


Sipping Copper

by Enterthetadpole



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Don't copy to another site, Emoter!Jordan, Emoter!Rhett, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Savor!Link, Strangers to Lovers, Tags Contain Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2020-02-07 03:27:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 27,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18612175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enterthetadpole/pseuds/Enterthetadpole
Summary: In a world where vampires and humans live side by side, Rhett didn't need anyone. Unfortunately love doesn't work that way.





	1. Blending the Nectar

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever vampire AU. I have been really focusing on it and hope that it shows. A huge huge thank you to its-mike-kapufty for beta reading and editing my ramblings into actual human words. Love you bunches, Mike!!

Blood was too expensive. 

Especially at the beginning of the month when so many bills demanded payment. Rent and food bumped up against one another to jostle for first position. Food usually won out, more often than not. Today was no exception. So with a muffled sigh, Rhett glared over the counter at the smiling face of a new Cruorista at the mixing dispensary two blocks from his downtown apartment. 

Rhett's bearded jaw was rigid. Mostly to stop himself from saying something too scathing about the ridiculous cost. This was one of the only places within walking distance that wasn't baby-handed with the booze in their blood blends. 

The cluttered shop was full of shelves of smelly herbs and commercial grade tonics. Bottles of powders labeled in oddly cryptic warnings about stirring by the light of a full moon or only being swallowed by a virgin. Nestled alongside fizzy sodas and salty snacks, the store oozed  _ Kitschy.  _

On the dark wood countertop sat three large bottles of a rich, handcrafted mix of strawberry cream liqueur. There were subtle copper tones in the combination that only Type O+ could possess. 

“The price used to be $35 dollars a bottle,” Rhett said in what he hoped was a conversational tone. 

“It did,” the young man agreed, quietly understanding. His bare hands splayed as he leaned over the counter and regarded Rhett with a flash of pearl- white teeth. “But you know commerce and capitalism. Everyone has to get their fangs into the profit.”

There was a shy grin at the arch of Rhett’s left eyebrow. 

“Pardon the expression.”

Rhett grunted as he handed over his credit card. The bottles were placed roughly into a thick paper bag as Rhett sensed the dark blue tattoo encircling his left wrist being scrutinized. Maybe if he moved fast enough he would be able to leave before the invasive questions started.

“Bet you get a lot of urging requests, huh?”

Then again, maybe not.

Internally, Rhett cringed, and then steadied the flow of irritation. Then he repeated a few times to himself that curiosity was perfectly normal. That this man,  _ Thomas _ (from what his shiny nametag declared), probably would have never gotten into this line of work if he hadn’t had some sort of deep fascination. 

“Yes,” Rhett said smoothly. “I do.” He was already holding out his hand, palm up, to get his credit card back. Thomas seemed to be biding his time.

“I thought so,” Thomas smirked, as if all of his birthday wishes were about to come true. “I know that being changed involves paperwork and a waiting list. Been on it for three months now. Had a girlfriend in college who was an Emoter like you. Oh my God, the things she could urge me to feel in bed...wild…”

Thomas’ eyes went blissful at the heated memories. Rhett scowled and hoped that next week Diana would be back behind the counter. Something about a vacation in the Bahamas? Guess that was worth the suffering Rhett was going through right now. Diana deserved a nice trip away.

“Could I  _ please _ have my credit card back?”

Thomas blinked out of the hazy fog of his previous life with his probably equally sex-crazed ex girlfriend. It was in these times that Rhett was thankful that he couldn't legitimately read minds.

“So you can only do it if we ask, right?” Thomas rallied on as he handed Rhett back his card. 

Rhett gave a curt nod. Christ, he missed Diana. 

“And...you're willing to urge for more than just fun, I assume?”

Another quirk of Rhett's eyebrow, but this time there was a little more curiosity in it. Thomas smile got even bigger. 

“What exactly are you proposing?”

Rhett watched the smooth face relax into relief. Thomas was clearly happy that Rhett was able to read in between the lines. 

“Well... maybe I ask to be emotionally urged, and you maybe do it as one friend to another...and then, oh, another bottle of  _ O Berry Me!  _ ends up leaving the store…”

Suddenly Thomas was a lot more interesting. Someone who Rhett felt the desire to make feel things, especially if extra blood blends were involved. 

“Your...hypotheticals are very intriguing,” Rhett admitted. 

He gave the man behind the counter a genuine grin, and within a swift motion Rhett's already- heavy bag got heavier. Thomas was practically vibrating with excitement and anticipation. It was almost cute. With his soft brown eyes and shaggy chestnut hair, he could have been the bipedal equivalent of a puppy about to get scraps under the table. 

Rhett chuckled low at the sight. The merest trace of pointed fangs creasing his bottom lip. 

“Think you could manage giving us a little more privacy? Not in the mood for an accidental audience. At least not today.”

Apparently Thomas  _ was _ able to take directions. At least when the orders hit a specific sort of kink. The young man swooped over to the front of the store with what was obviously a handmade sign. Rhett assumed it was one of the main reasons why he hadn't been able to swing in the other day on his way to work for a quick drink. The written scribble of  _ Be Back in Ten Minutes  _ had been twenty before Rhett gave up that afternoon. Something else to mention to Diana. 

The turning off of the lights was a little over the top, but whatever. Rhett always enjoyed the dark. It came with the lifestyle. 

“It's better if you're sitting down. I've been known to be…overwhelming.”

Thomas shuddered before he was able to hop up on the counter top. His legs dangled and Rhett took a couple of measured steps until he was so close that he could feel the warmth of Thomas’ breath on the plane of his chest. 

“Ok,” the Cruorista rasped. “I'm ready.”

“Oh, my sweet, clueless thing,” Rhett cooed, the side of his right index finger dragging down the soft cheek of heated skin. “You most definitely are  _ not _ .”

He could tell Thomas felt the itching in the back of his brain. It was almost like a quiet knock on a door in a room too far away. It was one of the only ways that humans could tell that something was off. That their mind was being gently opened and searched before the surge of change began. When his girlfriend had loved him, Thomas probably drooled for this type of foreplay. It made her lips even more soft and thighs even tighter. He would bathe in the sweetness her powers would provide. 

But Rhett was not his former lover. 

“What…” Thomas gasped as his body began to quake in a emotional pain that he couldn't even begin to decipher. His vision blurred at the corners as the tall man stared at him. His head bowed low as if in quiet prayer. “...Why...”

Rhett tilted his head as he waited for the moment for Thomas’ words to return. The expression of mock concern pressed against the edges of his bearded lips. 

“Do you know what I most adore about urging?” Rhett whispered. Then he paused to watch Thomas’ mouth twitch in another wave of agony. “The nuances of the act. The brutal rules that are part of such a delicate dance.”

At this point the smaller man was on his right side,. his quivering legs caged around much longer ones. 

“It's obvious,” Rhett went in, having a full-fledged conversation with the writhing mass. “That your girlfriend was gentle with you. Didn't take advantage of your vagueness. Maybe she even found your trusting nature… sexy?”

It wasn't like Thomas could confirm this. Not when his brain was breaking under the strain of blood- curdling fear and bone-searing regret. Hatred that had no basis in his own rattled history. Disgust that made his stomach revolt into violent dry heaves. 

“But you're smart and well-connected enough to both get this job  _ and  _ be placed on the changing list, so… as unfortunate as it is, we may eventually become… blood brothers. Pardon the expression.”

The repeated words from earlier aren’t lost on Thomas, despite his foggy synapses firing off like proximity mines. 

“So… here's a piece of advice. If you're ever insane enough to want the mysteries of your skull to be plucked like a fiddle again, then be  _ precise _ in what you fucking want to feel. When you don't, you give all the choices to the one pulling the strings. Right now you feel like it's the worst day of your life. Because it is. I'm rearranging the neurons in your hippocampus. Turning them inside out and into pretty shapes. I bet I can make a butterfly. Should I try, Thomas?”

There was a groan at that. The hands became tight fists as he shook. A new trigger of everlasting sadness peered from behind the now-closed eyelids. 

“That would be your amygdala,” Rhett said in a hush as the first tears fell like raindrops from the reddening cheeks. “It’s a beautiful contradiction. Affects both depression and pleasure. The need to sob  _ and _ to come.”

Sure enough there was a bewildered wail as a bulge formed in the tight blue jeans. Thomas was just able to croak out a plea, though Rhett couldn't make out all of the words. 

“What was her name?” Rhett hissed, his face mere inches away. The dark eyes wide and conflicted as they looked back up at him.

“Anna…” Thomas stammered, as if she could somehow still hear him. Maybe she could. Senses were heightened after the change, anyway. 

Rhett hummed at the name. Anna. The image of her swept lazily around him. Sweet and pleasant. Understanding and immensely patient with the irritating man that had once shared her bed. 

“She was cruel not to think about your future,” Rhett continued as his large hand pushed back the sweaty hair to ensure that Thomas could see him clearly. “That you'd want more lovely feelings even after your break up. Shortsighted, but hell - to be young and in love…”

Thomas was a mouse in a trap. Still struggling even after the neck was crushed. Inhaling deep breaths and pupils huge. At the mercy of the stranger above him. 

“Remember  _ all _ of this when you ask for our gift from now on. Make every goddamned syllable count before you allow the most precious part of your body to be fucked with… think you can manage that,  _ human _ ?”

It took every ounce of focus for Thomas to whimper assent. His body curved like his flesh was on fire, and slowly -  _ way  _ too slowly - the invasion retreated one cell at a time. The blinding screams muddled into an ache, and before he was able to adjust to the silence, the vampire was gone. 


	2. Staining the Pavement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild chapter appears! Its the middle of the night so...sure it makes sense that I upload the next chapter of a my Rhink vampire AU now. Yep!
> 
> A huge thank you to everyone who is reading this story, and providing me with such encouraging comments and lots of kudos. They give me the blood of life! Also a huge shout out to my wonderful writing wife whatsastory for making this chapter survive and the dazzling its-mike-kapufty for smacking my editing horror into the submission that it needed.

If Link had known the many ways his name could be used as a weapon, he would have disarmed it. Holstered up his given name _Charles_ instead, maneuvered it through his childhood like a ghostly shadow. 

Charles had been a nice enough name. He shared it with his father. Yet instead of bracing him against the normalcy of his lineage, his parents drifted him towards his middle name. First proclaiming him _Lincoln_ , and then clipping it down to _Link_ . Because that's what people did; made deliberate from actual names. Roberts transformed into Bobs. Katherines dissolved into Kates. It was natural to shrink them into manageable pieces that fit better on the tongue. Names were nothing more than bite-size candy bars. It just so happened that Link had to get used to chewing _his_ more thoroughly. 

By the time he had survived his younger years, he had done this. Had found a way to smooth out the sharper points of the acidic taunts, and how to jump clear of all of the raised eyebrows when people discovered his name. Now deeply settled into being forty, and looking _way_ more like the Charles of his future than the Link of his youth, he wore his nickname as a sign of rebellion instead of an anchor.

Eventually - or at least that's what he always told himself - he would talk to a proper therapist about all of this. Then he would accept whatever advice they gave to him as they wrote down expansive notes about how everything that made his mind run ember hot and then ice cold came down to early parental mistakes and later sexual repression. Until then, his vivid imagination created a long couch and a more rigid straight-backed chair for musings with Dr. Levine. 

Her honey-blonde hair would fall in smooth ripples onto her delicate shoulders. Her first name would upfront and sensible. Stephanie. No, chop it down like his own. Stevie. 

 _“So, tell me Link,”_ Stevie would say, “ _Do you know what drives you to rob people?”_

“Because they exist.”

“Sorry. Did you say something sweetheart?”

The elderly waitress smiled as she placed a heavily manicured hand on Link's right shoulder. Her grip sent nonverbal messages that she was paid far too little to care as much as she did. 

“No… just talkin’ to myself. Bad habit.”

She squeezed his shoulder a bit tighter and refilled his coffee before heading back to the giggling group of teenagers just behind him. Link appreciated the noise. It was nice to have distractions that stopped his arms and legs from needing constant movement. 

Stevie would tell him to get a better hobby. Like fishing, or bowling. Something normal and expected. Not sitting in a diner on a Thursday night, waiting to terrify the city. 

It wasn't like Link even needed the money. He had a job that he tolerated just as much as anybody else that he knew. His boss was fair-minded. He even got to eat for free on his shift, which absolutely helped with the bills. At first it was more about just stopping the tedious days off, to give him something to do with his thoughts and his hands. 

Face obscured with hoodie? Check. 

Find a random stranger walking the dark streets on their own? Check. 

Stick a gun in their face? Check. 

Demand their valuables? Check.

Run off into the night like a low-rate supervillain? Check. 

His method for not getting caught was more about luck than about real cunning and skill. Days off at the restaurant never had any real pattern that the already-overworked police force could wrap their theories around. Plus, what kind of weirdo mailed back the victims’ photo IDs and credit cards?

Link, obviously. 

He was smart enough, however, to not keep souvenirs of his crimes. That was way too serial-killer-like. Be more Charles Lincoln Neal and less Charles Milles Manson. Instead, he held the memories like photographs. Back safe, in the darker crevices that only saw the light of day when the bulky envelopes got heavy on the way to drop off points. Then, it was time to have more imaginary conversations with Stevie. 

Tonight, the plan was different. The marks of latest areas Link would take out his compulsions on were learning to stay in dense little packs. Their eyes and pockets were more often protected nowadays as they scampered like ants back to their little hills. So Link had relocated his terror to the west side of the city.  

The west side was much colder than any other part of town. Most people chalked this up to vampires crowding the area. With their sweeping long coats they would wear to protect  such fragile skin, they seemed to stir each molecule of chill from the air around them. Cool in both temperature and in natural swagger. No wonder copper sippers got laid so much.

Link huddled against the sharp cold as he headed over to a set of brick apartment buildings. His hoodie was up, gun pressed inside the front pocket along with the receipt from the diner. The steady footfalls of his boots crunched rhythmically as he made his way towards a shadowy spot to wait for his next rush. Already adrenaline was trickling into his muscles as he stood, still as a statue. 

He had taken off his glasses to keep his appearance as generic as possible. His slight squint wouldn't be noticed when people had the barrel of a gun to stare at instead. Soon enough, the soft sound of stubby heels on pavement met Link's ready ears. A small woman was approaching him with her head down and hands in her short coat pockets. A large blue purse dangled from her right side.  

The yellow ringlet hair should have been a warning sign. To proceed with caution. Danger ahead. But Link never paid attention to rules. 

Shocking how fast it happened. He had barely gotten the pistol out of his pocket before the flash of the blade connected with the side of his neck. The smooth rip through the tender flesh as white hot as a needle, his heart stuttering more from surprise than from  pain. By the time the shock passed, he was on the ground. His fingers pressed against the flowing wound and vision blurred on the heels of his grim reaper running away. 

He was just able to twist himself to a fetal position. A crimson river flowed through the dirty alley. Link swallowed, but there was never going to be enough air. A chair holding Stevie materialized in the middle distance. Notepad in her hand.

_“You've looked better.”_

He scoffed and did his best to shake his head. It was better this way. Cosmic justice finally called him to task. 

“Wish I wasn't makin’ such a mess to clean up after.”

Stevie frowned, and then more notes scribbled down. The steady drips of blood sounded like raindrops if Link closed his eyes. So he did. 

“ _You're worth more than that,”_ she muttered softly. 

“Easy for you to say,” Link countered, with just a hint of a smile. “Ain't even real.”

It's not like Link never thought about death. It was a risk that came with the territory. He just hadn't expected it to be so cold and relentlessly calm. Or for his senses to be heightened as the darkness inched its way in. Even now his nose could smell the grime in the cracks of the stained sidewalk, ears could hear the steady beat of his heart as his body tried to figure out what was going so incredibly wrong. 

“Why can't I just hurry up and die already?” Link whispered to Stevie's soft eyes. She bit her bottom lip as an answer. The notepad fell abandoned by her feet.

“I'd like to know the same thing,” a voice called from behind, and Link twisted himself just enough to see a very tall figure wearing both a long coat and serious expression. Rhett scanned Link's fallen form from his feet to his glazed-over eyes.

“No offense, but I'm kinda busy here,” Link said with a tiny wave of his hand. Rhett quirked an eyebrow.

“Busy?” Rhett mused. “Talking to yourself as you waste the perfect good carotid artery. Humans will never cease to disappoint me.”

Rhett sneered as only a seasoned vampire could. A calculated blend of menace and cockiness that people like Link could never begin to imitate. Yet there was something else that flickered behind the cold stare: a vague interest. Rhett had seen a whole lot of suffering in his long time after being turned. Death had a way of dissecting the soul so that what was left over was honesty in its rawest form. But the human leaking onto his shoes wasn't begging for mercy. Instead, a sound so small hovered from his broken throat and around his mouth that Rhett had to lean in close to make sure he was hearing it for was it was. 

Laughter. 

“You’re insane,” Rhett rasped, though his eyes were rapt. His large hands pressed against his long legs to keep his balance as he almost admired the human. 

“Yeah, probably…” Link giggled, then coughed a bit more. “But I've always been a glass-is-half-full kind of guy.”

Rhett rolled his eyes, but didn't turn away from the growing crime scene. 

“So… you're an idiot.”

Link laughed again. “No. At heart, I'm an optimist.”

Rhett rolled his eyes again. “Practically the same thing.”

The color was all but gone from Link's face at this point. The steady stream from his neck slowed to a trickle. 

“Let’s fully unpack what's happening,” Rhett said smoothly as he stood back up. “You're about to die all by yourself in a place where even rats won't live. You're _also_ a robbing piece of trash who doesn't even put fucking _bullets_ in his gun. Please tell me the bright side of this, for you?”

For the first time since meeting the man in the long coat and short beard, Link can feel a quake of the unknown shiver through his body. The smile had gone to join the coagulation of blood. Rhett had a piercing stare that Link knew - even though vampires had stopped truly hunting centuries ago, Rhett could devour him at any moment. 

“At least I'll have someone pretty to look at while I go, right?”

There was such a stillness in the air that for a very small moment, Link wondered if Rhett had even heard what he’d said. Then the slight itching was on the back of his skull, asking for entrance.

Link’s eyes narrowed in confusion, but the vampire’s face was like stone. The gaze  deliberate. Almost desperate. The itching more insistent. And then Link mumbled _okay_ before the weight of so much loss blood finally pulled him down. 


	3. Creating the Beast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter drained me. This time the pun was intended. I want to let all of you know once again how much your encouragement and love has helped me while writing this story. Also thank you to my growing team of diligent cheerleaders, beta readers and editors who have been my shoulders to cry on while I got the images in my head leaked onto the page. I hope I did a good job...
> 
> Its-mike-kapufty, sassybatgirl and whatsastory, I love you all like cookies and ice cream on a hot summer's day!

There were sensations that Link had heard about, but never experienced. Pride of a job truly well done. Joy of becoming a parent. Exhilaration of surviving a fall. Yet as he was cradled in the suffocating hold of the vampire, those emotions sputtered through his mind. An engine being revved up until each cylinder fired back to life.

“Come on,” Rhett muttered. His tip of his nose right up to Link’s ruptured neck, at the faintest of pulse points. “Let me all the way in, goddammit.”

Link groaned as another itch of fervor demanded entry to his cortex. Rhett was a cat yowling to be let in from the cold, nails so sharp that the door was splintering under persuasive claws. Then, with a force that only Rhett could supply, Link’s deepest thoughts and most trivial notions were not only opened, but shattered.

Haste split off in different directions as Rhett got to work. His hands skipped along heavy limbs as he made sure that there were no other devastations to fix. All the while, he roamed through Link’s cranial cavity like a firefighter’s last search for survivors before he left the rest of the house to go down in flames.

Link’s neck was abandoned. The veins were too weak to handle what Rhett needed to do. Instead, the vampire headed down to the shoulders, arms, wrists. A vital-enough point of entry was finally reached at the great saphenous vein. The scarlet roadmap stretched from the base of the foot to the side of the hip, and Rhett would follow it anywhere.

A thrumming sound within the capillaries met Rhett's predatory ears, modesty for Link damned as his blue jeans were yanked from chilling thighs. Paling skin glowed milk-white in the presence of the waning moonlight, but there was no time for reverence. Only enough to tear apart the man with tongue and teeth, and with adequate skill, unleash a newborn.

Something in the crevices of Link's brain twitched at the realization, and the last vestige of his humanity took a final stand. Rhett sensed it. The last muscle spasm before the body finally embraced exhaustion. Chilled lips managed a sigh, and Rhett sunk hard fangs into the soft flesh below.

Now, Link only felt what Rhett deemed important. Fastidious fingerprints smeared onto the molded clay of his cerebellum. The moods more intense than he ever dreamed in his wildest fantasies, and Link rolled his hips. Flashes of pure, unadulterated bliss made him catch a breath he didn't imagine possible at the end of life.

“Good,” Rhett muttered on pliable skin. “There you go…”

Was this what dying felt like? If so, Link might have to try it for a second time. The unrelenting ache in his neck stuttered to a low rumbling throb, but the vampire above him was pressing hot kisses on the leg as he relished the intimacy of the act. Each splash of richness into Rhett’s mouth gave Link another wave of mental afterglow.  

Rhett had only had pure blood a handful of times in his life. He didn't like it, as a general rule. It was too thick and tart and hard to digest, but something about Link's taste was… almost familiar. The flavor of honeysuckle on the dusty trails of what felt like another atmosphere. A muddled swirl of sweetness that clung to the velvety folds of his lips and the edge of his wandering tongue. Link was  _ home _ . 

Rhett hummed in lurid satisfaction as he took large swallows. Fingertips massaged the side of Link’s tensing leg to help the flow along to the tiny opening made with sharpened fangs. Link eyelids fluttered involuntarily as another ripple of calm played like a moving picture. Warmth after a long overdue kiss. Happiness of holding a puppy.

Rhett kept them both as still as they could as he fed. Shimmering green eyes, now a striking shade of emerald with focus and arousal, darted from pathway to shadows to make sure they stayed alone. Then the predator ceased to need more of his prey, and he pulled away. His beard stained ruby red in the aftermath.

There were promising signs that the change had started already. The gash in the left part of Link's throat was nothing more than an angry scratch. The bite marks on his right hip were already gone, and there was a more natural rise and fall to his slender chest. There was another exhale of breath, but this time it came from Rhett. His body buzzed with human endorphins and traces of adrenaline. After effects of a true feeding that he had only read about until now, but couldn't decide if he desired.

Link's mouth parted open and eyes tightly closed. His head lolled as his jeans were pulled back up to his waist and fastened. Then the vampire who created him stood and took a few steps away. He had to wait for the give and take of the change to seize hold.

The body must embrace it. The mind must resist it.

There were reasons why vampires were born under the watchful eye of at least four trained professionals, usually in sterile hospitals. Newborns came into their harsh, unfamiliar world with a violent yearning for blood, careless of how many pounds of flesh they ripped apart to claim it.

Rhett witnessed the small stretching motions of fingers first. An alien learning how to move in a humanoid form. The hands balled up and then released. Once. Twice. The eyes as black as inky night opened. The pupils blown so wide that the blue was swallowed up by the darkness. Rhett took a step back in alarm. This had been a mistake.

Link sniffed the air as he jumped, catlike, to his feet. His body crouched low, ebony gaze on his maker. Expression, almost mournful.

“Food...” Link rasped. The slightest flash of pink tongue on his upper lip. “I can smell it everywhere. I can hear it… all around us.”

His dark eyebrows knitted and brow furrowed. His being begged Rhett to point him in the proper direction to get what he needed. The taller vampire hissed at the lurch of pain in his slow-beating heart. The connection between them was already powerful.

“I can provide what you need,” Rhett replied, though he didn't move another step. “But first you must push me from inside of your mind. I'm still there, and I no longer have a right to be.”

Link swayed his head to the left, eyes widened. Fangs slipped over his plump bottom lip. Rhett seethed at the fog of confusion in the newborn's prefrontal cortex.

“Push you?”

Rhett inclined into a tight nod. His face was firm and set as he twisted into a tight corner in the newborn's skull, and Link howled in blistering agony. Fingers fierce as he pulled at thick strands of dark hair.

“Yes,” Rhett spat. “Push… me… out!”

Link whimpered for only a moment, and with an explosion of rage, Rhett was thrown off of his feet and onto the ground. His hold on Link’s mind completely severed, and for a fleeting moment, his own brain invaded. He closed himself off so fast that Link was not able to penetrate more than a centimeter of gray matter, but still it caught him off guard.

Newborns weren't supposed to be able to do that.

“No… you're not gonna hurt me…” Link growled, face contorted. “No one hurts me anymore…”

Rhett huffed in what only he understood to be relief. The body must embrace it. The mind must resist it. Link had done both.

He slowly got back to his feet and held out a hand to keep Link at bay. The newborn was sniffing at the air again as he paced. Slick puddles of blood splattered the ground as he tried to get his bearings. Figure out which way to go.

“Come with me,” Rhett said softly. “I can explain everything to you, but you must be willing to follow me. I’m responsible for you and for what you do from now on.”

There was a promise in the tone that Link understood to be true. The vampire radiated something from within his very essence - the familiarity of coming home after spending too many years away. But there was still the smell that wouldn’t leave his flaring nostrils. Why did they have to vacate such a delicious place?

“Talk is boring when there’s yummy things to chase.”

Rhett flinched, but then went deadly still. The faint curl of a smile as he silently agreed. Humans were all around them. Mostly asleep in their beds or watching late-night shit TV. Never realizing that danger was so close.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Rhett said. He paused to enjoy the smile on Link’s shadowed face. “You try to take  _ my _ blood first. You succeed, and you may feed by your own rules.”

Link’s smile grew.

“But if I’m able to…  _ persuade  _ you to follow me home, you do. And never leave my side unless I decide otherwise.”

The newborn giggled, and Rhett smirked as Link pointed an index finger at his own head. “No prowling around inside here?”

Rhett folded his arms across his chest and released an almost parental sigh of exasperation. “Not necessary for me to win, so… no.”

Link giggled a second time before he lunged, but Rhett was always ready.

Limbs and fangs crashed as they met each other. Link was direct in his attack; teeth bared and snapped at the long neck to draw blood as quickly as possible. Feet were a blur as they struggled, with Rhett twisting his body in experience as well as skill. Frustration etched in lines on Link’s hardened face as he kept missing by mere inches.

_ Link made the deal, but Rhett held all the cards. _

Rhett was stronger, but Link had unbridled energy on his side. That came with being just-born. A reckless need to explore and unleash, and one of the many reasons Rhett not only wanted to win, but  _ had _ to for the sake of the oblivious humans nestled around them.

_ Link was starved, but only Rhett knew how to feed him. _

A strong punch landed on Rhett’s gut to throw him off-balance. It worked better than planned, and Rhett collided with the unforgiving scarlet concrete below. Then Link was on top of him, solid and unyielding, eyes narrowed and black as he opened his mouth wide for another attempt. Rhett grunted when his skull slammed against the bridge of Link’s nose, and he could hear the cartilage snap. A river of blood spouted from the newborn’s face as he screeched and trembling hands flew up to stop the flow. Rhett sneered at the sight and he rolled off to the right to jump back to his feet. The murderous glower in Link’s eyes made Rhett’s stone heart give a sudden squeeze.

_ Link felt heat, but Rhett knew why it burned _ .

Another piercing surge of rage grappled with every molecule of Link. It wasn’t about hurting Rhett anymore.  _ Fuck pain _ . He wanted total desolation of all that Rhett represented right now. The control that he demanded. The power that he took - and Link was going to scratch and rip and tear until there was nothing left for that bearded face to sneer about.

That’s what Rhett was waiting for, and he took the advantage. Insanity and drive soared toward his throat. Link painted a picture of the beautiful brutality of the first-changed. Innocence and sinfulness in constant struggle. Both vying for control in a war that neither one would survive.

In a single motion, Rhett wrapped his arms and squeezed Link like a python. Using every inch of his power for one goal. The gasps and tears were all that escaped Link as he desperately struggled to breathe. But there was only so much that a ravaged form could fight, and soon Rhett’s muscles strained with the weight of his unconscious conception.

_ Link was the beast, but Rhett was the trap. _

 


	4. Smelling the Honeysuckle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a small break, but back now with a new chapter! Thank you as always to Mike for the wonderful beta reading and editing! You are wonderful at what you do!

Their bodies  _ always _ felt like fire.

Beyond the sharper fangs and widened pupils, it was another way to tell  _ the newborn _ from  _ the settled _ . Newborns were still reshaping themselves into what they were meant to be. The leftover capillaries from the life they used to be part of slowed down to the colder beats of a full vampire’s tempo. The skin shifted to a lighter shade. The teeth rounded at the points. The mind relished the ability to urge.  

Rhett grunted as he held the sleeping form. The limbs and stubbled jaw slacked. Heavy as ruined pavement under both sets of their feet, yet Rhett was just able to curve his large hands around the jean-clad thighs and hoist the dozing creature up into his arms. Link’s head lolled onto his broad right shoulder. The skin of his hot cheek seeped through the thin material of Rhett’s shirt, and he winced at the burning pressure.

The walk to Rhett’s small apartment was not very far, but every step took effort. There was no way for Rhett to tell how long until Link awoke, but when he did, he would need to feed. He would need to give his new muscles what they craved, and the blood would have to be pure. Newborns were just not able to handle mixtures yet.

Every single sound gave Rhett a need to pause. There were more than just wary humans to be concerned with here. There were also vampires who lived in this neighborhood, and the sight of Rhett carrying another person would be enough reason to raise an eyebrow, and the discovery that it was an undocumented newborn that  _ he _ had helped create would be tantamount to suicide.

Thankfully, the pathway was clear, and soon after a flight of stairs and a couple of doors, Link was resting in the double bed. Even with the slight sweat still beaded on his face and neck, there was the faint scent of honeysuckle that Rhett had tasted only minutes before. There were so many connection points they were to share now that Rhett was a creator, he knew now the scent of his created. Honeysuckle. _ Home. _

Rhett shuddered and moved away quickly. There wasn’t much time to work out what to do, so in a blur Rhett was already in the tiny kitchen fridge. Green eyes narrowed as he found the small tube of blood in the back and grabbed it with slightly sweaty hands.

It wouldn’t be enough to last more than the night, but it gave Rhett the time he needed to push down his scornful tone to make the needed phone call. The glass vial slowly grew warmer as he rolled it back and forth in his palms. There was no way that he would get it even close to body temperature, but at least he could take the chill off of it enough for the starving newborn in his bed not to care.

The soft snuffling noises of Link waking met his ears, and Rhett looked up from his hands to see the heavily-lidded eyes open. The blackness of the irises seemed even darker in the low light room.

“Keep as relaxed as you can,” Rhett whispered, and Link obeyed. The newborn’s lips downturned as he glanced up at the vampire in the chair beside him. Link was reminded of being at the hospital as a child after falling off the monkeybars and waking up to the face of an upset mother in a very similar looking chair, only that time he had a cast on his right arm and certainly had not had fangs piercing his bottom lip.

“You’re still healing from the… negotiation we had earlier,” Rhett muttered. “There’ll be tenderness around your chest and lower back for a while, but any bones that I may have broken would have already healed.”

It was clear that Link’s mind was racing, even if Rhett wasn’t inside of it. The black eyes flicked from place to place in the bedroom, catching and analyzing where he was and what all of this meant. The framed photo of two tall boys smiling in the summer sun. The small hanging shelf packed to the brim with paperback books. The clock radio flashing  _ 12:00am _ in rhythmic pentameter. The calmness of Rhett’s apartment washed over him like a well earned shower after such a long and draining day.

Rhett stayed seated in silent vigil, waiting for the questions that would become eventual demands. Newborns always had both. At least, in the few times that he had been a witness to the aftermath of a rebirth.

“Am I dead?”

Rhett could actually feel his own puzzlement at this first question. There was such a direct and nearly innocent quality to it that caused his heart to rush with something almost warm.

“Technically… no.”

Link raised his left hand to the giant slash on his jugular vein, and gave a soft gasp at the fact that there was no longer an open wound. Instead, it was deep set scar. His fingertips brushed up against the healing tissue again, brow furrowed as he began to understand.

Vampires and healing properties went hand in hand.

“You need to drink,” Rhett insisted. His large hand placed the sealed bottle of blood onto Link’s chest. “This is a concentrate, so it’ll keep you sated until later today. You must stay here until I return with more blood for you to - ”

Rhett stopped as Link tugged at the seal in desperation. His eyes narrowed in focus as the plastic finally pulled away and the deep red contents were poured down Link’s waiting lips and swallowed in just a few gulps. The sigh of satisfaction echoed through the bedroom, and a rush of pink nestled onto Link’s cheeks. Rhett stared at him, transfixed for just a moment before returning to his senses. He cleared his throat and continued.

“I should be back by late morning if I leave within the next hour. It’s better to get to city hall right when they open. In the meantime…”

He pulled out his phone and handed it to Link, who took it without question.

“Put your phone number in here,” Rhett said. “I’ll text you when I am on the way back. There’s a small amount of human food in the cabinet and refrigerator, if you still desire to eat such things. They’re no longer necessary, but they may help…  _ comfort  _ you.”

The morning light was already slinking into the room, and it created a glow that showed off the paleness of Rhett’s skin. His deep browline creased into soft consideration. Link returned the gaze with equal interest, then placed a hand to his face in alarm.

“What’s wrong?”

“My glasses,” Link said simply. “I must’ve lost them outside.”

Rhett tilted his head.

“They should no longer be needed. Your senses should all be razor sharp now. Unless you have a sentimental attachment…”

Link didn’t respond, his hands absentmindedly picking at a thread in the bedspread. He didn’t know why it bothered him now, when he was clearly something more -  _ maybe better  _ \- than he was before, but those black rims were more a part of him than anything else he owned. Though it was nice not having to wear them just to be able to see the handsome face that watched him. The slight freckles that sprinkled the bridge of Rhett’s nose and high cheekbones. The way that his hair was more than just light shades of brown, but chestnut colored waves that Link longed to touch to see how soft it could be without so much gel.

“Would you prefer me call you Charles, or Link?” Rhett said after a very long moment, and Link looked at him in shock.

“Link. But how did you know my name?”

“It’s part of the shifting process,” Rhett replied offhandedly, then stood up and took back his phone. “We share basic memories and fears now. If you relax your mind, you’ll know my name too. Give it a try, if you feel up to it.”

Rhett waited as he saw Link take a deep breath and close his eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched and he allowed his mind to create a silence. His heart felt heavy, but the beats per minute slowed down even more and the answer came to the front of his eyes and hovered there. Like a whisper in a crowded room.

“Rhett,” he said when his eyes opened. His voice tilted up as if it might have been a question. “Rhett McLaughlin.”

The vaguest hint of a smile appeared long enough for Link to catch it. It was the second time tonight that the rigid facade seemed to crack, even for the fleetest moment.

“Correct, Link Neal,” Rhett replied. “Now get some rest while I am gone. There’s a lot to for you to learn.”


	5. Opening the Wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to finally get a specific character in the story, so that happens within this chapter. Thank you again to wonderful beta reading/editing from its_mike_kapufty and also general encouragement from whatsastory and supersassybatgirl!

The metal grey building loomed like a gravestone, but Rhett still moved towards it. His large feet feather light on each of the sixty-five steps up to double wide doors that lead into the stale air of politics. The long coat protected him only from the harshness of the morning sun, but could do nothing once he entered. There were regal columns all around him, and every one of them declared the same thing: that he should be anywhere else but here.

There were already too many humans in this place for his comfort. They smelled of asinine concerns like missed cups of coffee and bureaucracy. The pettiness of their woes stunk, and Rhett felt his stomach turn in protest. A small woman with a severe bob haircut bumped up against him on her way to the exit. Her scowl became a look of slight alarm once she peered into Rhett’s eyes, and hurried away as fast as she could. This was nothing that Rhett wasn’t used to every day. Human expressions changing right in front of him once they understood  once they realized in whose presence they stood.

There was no need to read the map at the side of the next hallway. Two right turns, then a left and straight ahead until he reached the dark blue door in the east wing. The same path that he had known for four decades, yet rarely taken.

He gave three sharp knocks and waited.

“Come in,” said a deep voice. “It’s open.”

Rhett turned the brass doorknob and entered a large office. The ebony desk sat close to an oversized window, and the walls were covered in large paintings of the city, all commissioned by little known artists who wanted to impress the ancient man sitting behind the desk. The crisp navy suit was a stark contrast to his paler wrinkled hands and face - a face which, at the moment, was tilted down as he scribbled with a pen on a piece of paper, his laptop  forgotten on his left side.

“Seeing you here is troubling,” the older man said, still not looking up but gesturing a left hand to the seat opposite his desk. “I’m sure you’ll be brief. You usually are.”

Rhett said nothing, but sat down. His eyeline swept to the thinning hair, completely snow white now. Then to the deeply-lined face, and then to the noses they shared.

“You look older,” Rhett mentioned softly.

The elderly man chuckled, and finally looked up. His aquamarine eyes were a shade and intensity that made Rhett feel like their mother was seeing him from beyond the veil of death.

“It’s been three years since we’ve seen each other,” the other man said. “I  _ am _ older.”

“I text you,” Rhett bristled, already annoyed by the way this conversation was going. “Send emails… stay in touch as much as I - ”

“What is it that you want, Rhett?” the man snapped. His voice was sterner now. As if Rhett was avoiding the pressing news he had for some ridiculous reason. “You only come here in person with your...”

The old man motioned again at him, this time with an impatience that the vampire hadn’t seen since they were both small children.

“With your sweeping coat and icy glare when there’s no other choice. You only see me…  _ really _ see me when something is so beyond your depth that you need me to pull a few strings or use my influence. So, out with it. What the  _ hell _ do you want?”

Apparently directness was a hereditary trait in their family. It had just laid dormant for the man who was staring at Rhett with such seriousness as he waited for yet another shoe to drop. The silence in the room was broken only by the soft ticking of the antique wall clock. Like a heartbeat that would eventually stop.

“I need pure blood, Cole,” Rhett murmured.

His older brother scoffed and then leaned forward in his chair.

“You know very well that you have the ability to go to the any of the registered blood clinics in the city to get your allotted six-month supply. No questions asked. So unless you somehow are suffering from a memory issue that I’m not aware of… then there’s more to it than that.”

Rhett couldn’t help but flinch at the level of awareness that Cole had always possessed,  and even more so now with what old age and wisdom had given him, along with being in the _ Vampire and Human Relations Department _ for what was fast-approaching a half of a century.

“How many vials do you need?” Cole prompted. “I may be able to find a work-around to get you an advance… as long as it’s for an understandable - ”

“I need ten tubes,” Rhett said in a rush. It was actually more like twelve to fourteen, but he would be able to stretch out the supply in a couple of ways.

Cole’s jaw dropped, and his eyes went suddenly wide. 

“ _ Ten _ ? Why in the world do you need that much? Wait, you’re not doing something insane like trying to start your own mixing dispensary, are you? There are laws and regulations for that, Rhett. Granted, I’m pleased that you’re wanting to finally take some business initiative to…”

Cole paused, then looked slightly crestfallen at Rhett’s face.

“So, that’s not it then.”

“No, it’s not.”

The silence was there once more, but this time there was a tentative amount of dread that accompanied it. Like the two brothers knew there was a bomb in the room, and it was only a matter of time before it went off. The ticking second hand of the wall clock didn’t help with this feeling.

“How old is she,” Cole whispered. The expression in his eyes desperate to be wrong on his second guess.

“It’s a he. Created last night,” Rhett answered, not returning his gaze. It was easier -  _ better _ \- to keep his face lowered to the dark tiled floor. What he did felt so much more shameful now, in the the light of the morning. His brother had spent over half of his life trying to protect him and others like him from being labeled as nothing but unfeeling monsters, and yet look at what he had fucking done. Due to a sensation of want that he hadn’t had for so long. 

There was a rattled breath, but Rhett refused to look up into the wrinkled face.

“Fine then.  _ He. _ ” Cole said. He sounded so far away. “And you are  _ completely _ sure that he’s been turned?”

Rhett’s first nod was so stiff that he nodded again just to make sure that Cole registered his reply. “He smells like honeysuckle, Cole. Like the ones momma used to have in the backyard. It took me a while to connect the scent, but…”

“Shit,” Cole whispered. It was the second time in over a decade that Rhett could remember his older brother cursing. Rhett carefully tilted his face up to watch the elderly man become even older before his eyes. The balding head was in slightly shaking hands. “So it's not just that you were just  _ passively _ involved…”

“I’m sorry,” Rhett said. The words felt dry and awkward in his mouth. Almost otherworldly. “It was wrong for me to throw this burden on you. I’ll go and see if I can figure - ”

Rhett had been halfway out of his chair when Cole held out his right hand, staying him. His heavily-lined cheeks and lips were both in quiet contemplation as Rhett sat back down, wondering what was going to happen next. Cole could do anything to him now. Rhett had more or less confessed to a capital crime. There was only so much that the government could bend to family ties.

“Did you care for this newborn while he was still human?”

Rhett knew that this question might come. It was one of the first questions that was always asked of the impending creator by the panel who assisted the rebirth. During regulated changes, the answer didn’t matter. The vampire chosen to turn the human was picked based on factors that had nothing to do with love or companionship.

“No, I did not,” Rhett said. “I came across him bleeding to death in an alley near my apartment.”

It was very apparent that Cole had not expected that answer. He had spent the majority of his later years becoming expertly good at hiding his emotions in the face of vampires. Yet Cole definitely looked visibly shaken by this revelation.

“You saved his life then?”

Cole’s voice came in a velvety layer of quiet admiration. The light eyes twinkling in the growing morning sunlight that floated through the giant window from behind him. Rhett didn’t respond, although his mind knew that this was exactly what had happened. Cole continued to stare.

“I need his name,” Cole said, after what seemed like years. “Along with everything that you know about this man.”

Rhett huffed, and then shrugged his shoulders.

“Charles Lincoln Neal,” Rhett began, “and he had a gun on him when I found him. Robbery gone wrong. Hadn’t asked him all the details yet.”

The sound of typing from the laptop joined the ticking of the clock. Slender fingers were speedy as Cole began preliminary searches of Link’s name in the data bases. The blue white glow of the screen illuminated his weariness more than ever.  

“That’s all you have?” Cole questioned.

“Yes,” Rhett replied. “Unless you will force me to tell you his most potent childhood fears and fiercest sexual desires…”

Cole crinkled his nose with his face still glued to the monitor. “No to both, thank you.”

Within a few clicks of his mouse, Cole sighed heavily, and then turned his laptop around so that Rhett could see the screen. There - in what was clearly a black and white surveillance shot - was Link. His dark glasses on, sitting in the window seat of a diner not too far from the alley. His cup of coffee to his lips and plate still half full of eggs and bacon. Neither the hoodie or face ruined by bloodshed, and Rhett’s breath hitched at the sight. Link looked like he had seen a lot of heartache in his life, and in the starkness of the various shades of gray of the still picture, you could see that he was indeed, a very troubled man. The vivid blue eyes that Rhett had only seen for such a tiny amount of time before he’d sunken his fangs into Link’s burning flesh looked a stunning flash of silver in monochrome.

“So, this  _ is _ him then?” Cole asked, way more gently than was warranted.

“Yes… that’s him.”

Cole sighed and then twisted the laptop back.

“He doesn’t have a known criminal record for anything,” Cole confirmed. “At least not here, so that may help us in the long run with getting him eventually registered. Is there anyone who can corroborate your claim as to how you found him?”

Rhett shook his head, still fixating on how lonely and hopeless Link had looked in that diner.

“Then that makes this more difficult,” Cole said dryly, “but not impossible. How has he taken to the changing so far, assuming that he is aware of it under the circumstances?”

“He is aware, and overall… other than the initial attack to feed, he's been settling down well. Had a vial I had stashed in my fridge about an hour ago.”

Cole hummed as he glanced back at the laptop. His hands occasionally typed or clicked the mouse on a spot that Rhett only could imagine. 

“He's got a few notes here for psychological issues,” Cole remarked offhandedly. “But I'm sure that you're aware of that, you being an Emoter.”

“Yes, I'm aware.”

Cole chuckled again.

“What's so amusing?”

“It's nothing, just…”

The elderly man pulled his hands away from the keyboard and placed them in his lap. The soft note of nostalgia appeared in the blue-green eyes.

“You'll forever look like you did when you were changed, but inside you'll always be the same little boy drawn to a challenge. What our poor parents went through with your need to make things better. Just compelled to try to fix the world one broken toy or hurt baby bird at a time.”

Rhett sniffed in contempt at the sentimentality of the old, but kept his mouth shut. Him as a child was hardly relevant to who he was now, despite some vague similarities to what was happening. 

“I may have to use every bit of my political clout that I have left, but… if you truly do want to follow whatever this is, Rhett… I’ll do it. I’ll protect you one last time, as long as you use the protection to help him, too.”

Cole pointed at the screen, and even though Rhett couldn’t see Link’s face anymore, he knew of course who Cole meant. There was a rush of painful warmth that flooded his chest and upper arms. It was something so close to gratefulness that Rhett almost needed to leave the room. To run away. But he didn’t.

_ He couldn’t. _

“Thank you, but… I must know why? I only need blood, not for you to potentially destroy your entire career for a reckless mistake that I - ”

Cole raised his hand again, and just as when they were little boys, Rhett always stopped to listen. For the first time since forever, the blue-green eyes were so kind that it broke Rhett a little inside.

“I see the way that you reacted to him, little brother. And don’t look at me like that. I know what you’re going to say. That it’s just your body’s endorphins and dopamine and all the other chemicals that ramp up during a change. I’ve known you now for seventy of my seventy-five years on this world, and I know when you care about someone, Rhett. And I know what you look like when you’re opened to something more. Whatever this man - or should I say, what this new  _ vampire  _ has - is calling to you. I haven’t seen it in such a long time… that it’s worth me sticking my neck out.”

Rhett was smiling, and for once it felt okay to do so. Cole smiled back.

“Besides, we always knew you’d be the death of me eventually. Might as well make it a worthwhile one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please chat with me on Tumblr or Kik!


	6. Finding the Sunshine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. Sorry about the delay on continuing this and other stories. Stressers have been getting the better of me but I am slowly moving back on track. As always thank you to readers and my Rhinkers in arms Its-mike-kapufty, sassybatgirl and whatsastory for having my back, front, middle and every other part of me! <3

During the first hour, Link was still working through it. Not the actual _I’m now_ _a bloodsucking creature of the night_ part - that would take months, according to everything he had been taught since middle school. Mottos of toleration and love wedged in between Native American and Black History studies. Most of the documentaries still flickered in the back of his mind, and although he hadn’t taken the best notes, he remembered enough to pass the standardized tests back then.

It wasn't like Link never dreamed - _ or in later years fantasized _ about becoming a vampire. The blood-drinking wasn't a deal breaker, and urging was positively fascinating to think about. Emoters seemed to have the most interesting mental ability... but it could be weeks before Link would know what his urging power would be. 

In the meantime, he was stuck in an unfamiliar apartment with nothing to help his growing hunger. The food that Rhett had mentioned in passing was more stale crackers than anything substantial. Then again, what in the world had Link been expecting? A four course feast with his new creator by candlelight?

“ _ Sounds more like a date _ ,” Stevie remarked.  She hadn’t made another visual appearance since the alley, but her voice was still there. Soft and melodic as it bumped against Link’s brain like a moth to a naked bulb.

Link shrugged as he gave a non committal huff. Huge-pupiled eyes narrowed from the bright splash of sunlight invading the tiny bedroom. His arms spread wide as he laid on the mattress, legs dangling off of the foot of the bed. A date would be nice, even if unnecessary. Link had already willingly given Rhett his human body. What the hell else was left?

A lot actually, when Link gave himself a moment to really think about how soft Rhett’s beard might feel against his inner thighs. The heady musk of his breath as it mingled in rapid kisses. How freaking big his hands were.

“Great…” Link groaned. “Now I'm bored, hungry,  _ and  _ horny.”

_ “You could try reading a book?”  _ Stevie chuckled.

That  was a good suggestion. Most of Rhett’s small shelf was full of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and E.E. Cummings. All of them looked well-worn and smelled strongly of cherry birch. The odor was earthy with just a subtle tinge of sweetness that made Link’s toes curl inside his shoes. It had taken him only a few minutes after Rhett had left with his sweeping coat and subtle grin to realize that this was Rhett’s scent invading his nose like a slow-moving fog.

Link grunted as he flexed his stiff muscles and creaking bones. It felt like they were still getting used to this body. The faint scars on his hip and neck tickled, and his nose and ears noticed the subtle nuance of everything. The soft shuffling sounds of what had to be an elderly neighbor opening their door. The gentle smell of fresh baked cookies wafting in from the half-opened window.

It was about the two hour mark that Link began to weigh his options. Already tired of Stevie's internal half-hearted sighs every time he checked his phone for texts, he made his way through the sliding glass door in the living room. Fresh air would help. At least, it had always helped when he’d needed to go over things in his head from the day before - whether it was a self-esteem pep talk (Stevie approved), or to go over his next robbery for the following evening (Stevie disapproved).

The balcony was just as plain and annoyingly functional the rest of Rhett's apartment. A small table sat in the middle of the squared space, with a couple of potted plants off to the right. Across, a lounge chair that seemed large enough for the giant vampire. 

He checked his phone again. Nothing. How long did it take to - what exactly was Rhett doing, anyway?

Link frowned hard, as if it would assist in his thought process. He paused and rewound the minimal pieces of conversation he’d had with Rhett as he’d been leaving the apartment.

_ “You deserve to know what's going on, Link.”  _ Stevie sighed.

“I really hate it when you're right.”

It was the soft padding of paws that made him turn to his right, and there on wide banister was an almost comically plump cat. The fluffy fur was a muddled cream color, and the eyes were a shimmering yellow and presently narrowed in tremendous irritation. It had no collar, but between its bulky frame and pristine coat, it was obvious that this feline was pampered and doted on.

A soft mewl and bushy tail twitch told Link for certain that he was in this cat’s favorite sunning spot, who was rapidly running out of patience with the newborn vampire.

Ignoring the creature seemed to be the best plan, but the cat didn’t agree. There was a small thump as four paws landed on the balcony floor and headed towards Link’s legs. The pointed ears tilted back and rounded face looked up at Link, as if trying to decide how absolutely dense he actually was.

“I was here first,” Link grunted.

The cat meowed loudly in protest.

“There are plenty of other places for you to sit if you want,” Link replied.

_ “You do know that you’re having a conversation with an animal, right?” _

Link exhaled out of his nose. The cat stared. Link played around with some random apps on his phone. The cat stared. Link made fluttering  _ go away _ gestures with his right hand.

The cat stared.

_ “I think the cat’s winning.” _

And as if the feline could read his emotions as well as any Emoter, four tiny paws hit Link’s lap with a surprising amount of grace. Its chubby cheeks and firm whiskers rubbed on his narrow arms as it gave a purr of quiet ownership. It was only then that Link pondered whether animal blood was something that might be worth looking into.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

**Rhett: You’re not allowed to eat carmel.**

Link stared at the message, as did the cat. The phone buzzed with a follow-up message.

**Rhett: Caramel***

This did not clear up anything. Another buzz.

**Rhett: The cat. Don’t eat him, or try to feed off of him in any way. Would probably upset my next door neighbor.**

_ “Probably _ upset?” Link muttered, quirking an eyebrow.

Caramel blinked and dug his sharp claws warningly into Link’s lap. The large tail jerked as he settled in like a large furry Buddha. Even his content purrs seemed to be full of hidden meaning. As if the feline had not seen anything worth fearing in the black eyes and fangs. Present- or past-human alike was not worth additional stress for this cat, unless his personal lounge chair was under attack. 

Another text.

**Rhett: Back in the next hour. Stay in the apartment. Have vials for you.**

Link hadn’t even known that he was holding his breath until then, but the relief was amazing. Caramel meowed in resignation as he curled up into a roly poly ball on Link’s lap and closed his bright yellow eyes. His fur was much coarser than it looked, but Link rubbed the top of his head and waited. The sunshine warmed his chilled skin as he allowed his tongue to rub his needle-like fangs and imagine a large meal of rich blood by candlelight, and definitely without self-entitled cats.


	7. Waking the Newborn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, it's time to get things moving. I hope that you enjoy! Wonderful editing by its-mike-kapufty!

Rhett unlocked the door to his apartment, already on edge. Even with the dozen small glass tubes of blood clinking like bells in his chocolate- colored satchel bag, there was no telling what Link might have done while he was away. After the text about not feeding off of the grumpy cat next door, Link had not responded again. That was not a comforting situation, and who knew if he would be walking in to a second-day vampire hunched over the carcass of what used to be his neighbor’s feline? There were no premade greeting cards to slip under the crack of Ms. Harrison’s door to apologize for an unregistered newborn feasting on her beloved pet.

Thankfully, it only took a few placed sniffs to surmise that there wasn’t any blood in the air, and Rhett’s carpeting was still as boringly beige as it always was. Another sweep of the living room gave visual clues that Link had not left. His faded red boots sat upright next to the couch, and the sliding door was opened, with the forest green curtains swaying in the slight breeze. Off to the side the lounge chair was just in frame, with Caramel curled up safely in a tight ball and sleeping in what he always considered to be definitely  _ his _ spot.

Regardless of Rhett’s continued annoyance.

All but one of the vials were placed into the refrigerator with the gentleness that was deserved. Even now there was the subtle scent of Cole’s aftershave on each of the tubes, and a fresh pang of heated guilt rippled through Rhett. The words of warning and love from the older man etched into his skull like bullet fragments.

Rhett closed his eyes and shook his head, as if that would help loosen the ghost of his mother’s narrowed eyes  as Cole repeated a final time for Rhett to be careful. To get Link through his newborn status as soon as possible., his undertow of meaning as clear as anything. It could take three to four weeks for Link to shift out of the newborn stage to fully formed vampire, but there was one way to speed up the process. He would just need to convince Link to go along with it.

In his right hand he held onto the single vial, allowing it to warm up to body temperature as he made his way to the bedroom. Rhett had assumed from the wafting smell of shampoo that Link must’ve taken a shower, but it was only when he stepped in the room that he stopped with a start.

Link had  _ absolutely _ taken a shower. The tiny bathroom door was open. The light was still on, and draped across the room to settle onto the snoozing form of a very naked Link Neal. Granted, the newborn’s hips and legs were covered in pale blue linens, his bare chest flushed slightly pink from what Rhett assumed must have been the hot water of the shower. His clothing was folded neatly on the small side table next to the bed, with his dark blue boxer briefs announcing to the other vampire that yes, there was indeed a nude man he had just met snoring in his bed.

Something in Rhett’s chest twisted. As if he had drunk too much blended wine too fast, or had stumbled on the last step out of his apartment. There was a dryness in the back of his throat that made swallowing seem like a new task.  Before he knew what had happened, the sound of a heavy piece of glass hit the floor with a significant thump.

Link opened his eyes at the noise, and Rhett realized then that the pale blue sheets and large eyes of the creature created shared more than just a similar hue. The dark pupils were still dominant, but the aquamarine gaze was prominent when freshly awoken. The slender shoulders and small patch of ebony chest hair glistened in the artificial light.

“Hey,” Link said, in a sleepy drawl that made his slight southern accent cling to the word like honey. “You’re back. I missed you.”

Rhett quirked his left eyebrow and tilted his head back. Link blinked in rapid succession, as if he had meant to think that instead of say it.

“I… I’m sorry,” Link began, cheeks turning a deep shade of crimson. He sat up after making sure that his bottom half was covered. “Don’t know what the hell - ”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rhett muttered. His eyes left Link’s face to bend down and pick up the dropped blood vial and place it on the side of the bed. “It’s a natural part of the process. It’s harder to filter your thoughts when you’ve first been shifted.”

Link nodded, though it was clear that he had no clue what Rhett was talking about. His comparatively-smaller hand reached for the  sustenance and uncorked it. The blood went down faster this time with the freshness and heat, and Rhett found himself unable to look away from the movements of Link’s sizable adam’s apple as hungrily swallowed. The delicate balance of masculine and feminine features swam in every part of the newborn’s body. The dark mop of hair in a sleep-fueled explosion of waves coupled with wide crystalline eyes and a delicate nose that sat almost too perfectly on his face. The wide mouth with soft lips that begged to be bruised with biting kisses. A strong jawline that would fit so well into Rhett’s large hands.

“Oh, wow,” Link groaned., His eyelids fluttered open and he looked to the ceiling after the last drop was finished. “I feel kinda funny…”

Rhett cleared his throat, and turned to head to the bathroom. The door closed behind him with a snap and he leaned over the sink and breathed hard.

“Rhett? You okay?”

Link’s voice sounded small and concerned, and a new wave of heat flooded through Rhett’s muscles and bones. This time the warmth had absolutely nothing to do with his older brother.

“Yeah,” Rhett rasped back. “Just… give me a minute. I’ll explain once I’m out.”

There was no response from the other side, but it didn’t seem like Link was about to intrude. Cold water was turned on and felt icy on Rhett’s face. The droplets hung tightly on Rhett’s beard and he continued to take long, steady breaths. The need to get his body and mind under control was essential in all of this.

The bathroom opened again to Link’s cheeks much rosier in color than before. Rhett patted his face and beard dry with a white towel and handed Link some water in a paper cup. Link took it gratefully and drank it in one solid gulp. Rhett sat at the foot of the bed and tried to keep eye contact.

“I’m sure that you have questions about what just happened,” Rhett began. “And I’m not the type to leave you in the dark. No newborn deserves that.”

Link wiped his lips with the back of his hand. His eyes firmly on Rhett’s face as he leaned in to listen.

“I’m not sure how much education you received in school about changing, but if it was anything like mine… then they didn’t teach you anything more than the basics, along with some  _ really  _ unfounded stereotypes.”

Rhett paused, and when Link averted his eyes and seemed all of the sudden fascinated by a stray string on the bed sheet, he sighed.

“When a vampire creates another,” Rhett continued, “there is a bond that begins. It is always there - until the eventual death of the one of them. But at the initial change, the connection is incredibly powerful. We are able sense each other’s bodies.”

Link opened his mouth, but closed it as Rhett shook his head.

“It’s not emotional urging,” Rhett said sternly. “Urging has to do with the brain only. And yes, the brain and body are of course connected, but what you just experienced was more about you mirroring what my body was doing when I was... watching you drink.”

There was another pause, and Rhett could almost see the cogs in Link’s head working furiously to make sure that he understood. The hesitation a thick fog in the room while the rest of Link’s face grew as red as his cheeks.

“So, that wanting to  _ bang something into the ceiling _ feeling a few minutes ago was because of you?”

“Yes,” Rhett replied slowly. “Obviously I found you attractive. In my defense, you’re naked in my bed and were practically giving that tube of blood a blow job…”

The rest of whatever Rhett was about to say died in his throat - that dry feeling coming back for an encore that made him wish that he had gotten a cup of water for himself as well. It became even worse with the lopsided grin that appeared on the newborn’s face. It should be a crime for someone to look that incredibly smug.

“And it goes both ways?”

Rhett’s right leg bounced as he fought to not just get up and leave the bedroom. It was hard to tell how much of this questioning was actually Link being curious, or if it was more about teasing Rhett about his own lack of control over his body. Most likely a bit of both.

“Yes, that’s what mirroring _ means _ ,” Rhett said, in a tone so stiff that Link quirked his own eyebrow.

Link gave a small giggle, which didn’t help Rhett at all with staying annoyed. If anything the sound of the newborn’s laugh did even deeper things inside of Rhett’s chest.

“Sorry, I’m just making sure that I understand. And this mirroring is until I get older?”

There was a tight nod of Rhett’s head.

“Mirroring usually dissipates after the newborn stage, and if you are interested in getting out of the newborn stage sooner than a few weeks, there is a shortcut to that. It would allow you to become a full vampire with your urging power revealed within 24 hours.”

Rhett could sense Link’s excitement at this idea. The smile grew so that his fangs were just visible.

“Really? What would we need to do? I’m up for learning my new powers.”

“It’s fairly straight forward,” Rhett replied, preparing himself for Link’s reaction. “We fuck.”


	8. Breaking the Shell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Readers,
> 
> This is where that Explicit tag promised earlier lives now, so take heed if you are not into that type of thing. I really hope that I did justice to my blood boys in this chapter. My brain hurts, and now I need long talk with a steady drink of the alcoholic variety. :-)
> 
> A HUGE HUGE shout out to sassandpanache and its-mike-kapufty for keeping me from losing my mind with fret and worry.
> 
> Tell me what you think, and please feel free to wave at me from Tumblr or Kik!

Sex was just another distraction.

The body’s way of exercising until the voices of the world became a pleasant hum. Link knew this - he had known since the first time he had gotten off to a collection of red smeared lips and rosy cheeks in the back of a 1977 Cadillac - so perhaps that was the reason he didn’t flinch at Rhett’s suggestion. Instead his hands pushed away the rest of the covers to put himself on display. Sunkissed thighs and knees opened up, and Rhett inhaled another wave of honeysuckle scent.

Link was slightly aroused already, and his manhood hung heavy from a nest of softened midnight curls. His bottom lip was bitten in a display of wanton desire so visceral that the taller vampire surged forward. Mouths connected and held onto the first kiss, as if it was so fragile that it needed to be frozen in time. There was the need to catalog every single wrinkle in their lips, and so they did. Link was pushed by a large hand against his chest until his heated back met the cool sheets below. Melted into the softness as his legs were farther parted and Rhett growled into the fold of his neck.

“Oh, god…” Link moaned.

“You flatter me."

Link giggled while his hands grabbed at the hem of Rhett’s shirt and pulled up, the fabric silky and warm as the other vampire assisted him with his task. The clothing was thrown off to the side as an afterthought - something to worry about in some vacant future, after they took each other apart bit by bit.

The sound of a zipper being undone by another set of fingers sent a shiver down Rhett’s spine, and he lifted his hips as pants and boxers were pushed down. Their groins swiveled as one, and Rhett swallowed the gasp that had escaped Link’s throat.

“Should I take this as a  _ yes _ to my idea?” Rhett whispered into the shell of Link’s right ear.

“Jus’ shut up and take me.”

Link’s body twitched at the next dirty circle as their shafts connected, and the familiar scratch of Rhett asking permission became clear. The nod of agreement pressed deeply to the nape of Rhett’s neck.

A flood of white hot pleasure invaded Link’s mind and he opened his eyes in alarm. He bathed in the liquid heat of the man above him and cried out. His fangs exposed as he grinded up to meet his firm erection. Rhett was looking at him in what could have only been astonishment. The piercing emerald stare watched Link grab at the corners of the sheets, and then at his own hair. Relished the whimpering noises that broke free from that wide and expressive mouth. The way the smaller body shuddered and writhed. The heady crash of honeysuckle and cherry birch that filled the tiny bedroom.

“I need…” Link muttered into the sky. His chin tilted up as he tried and failed to focus. Understanding the want, but not the proper way to proclaim it. “Swallow...”

Rhett groaned and dropped his neck to the puffy lips of the newborn, then tucked his arms under Link’s armpits and cradled the back of his head in both hands. Caged and secured, Link sank his fangs into the jugular vein of his creator. The bite was rough and amateurish, but Rhett moaned long and loud as he was enjoyed. Blunt nails created red highways of broken skin as they both held each other tighter, and Rhett once again felt the pull of home. Of running barefoot in chilly backyard streams, avoiding jagged stones beneath his toes. 

Felt that this squeaking tangle of lips and limbs was all that mattered. A place for his slowed down heart to rest after such a weary forty years. Rhett groaned, and the stiffness of his muscles and bones relaxed. The sharp sting of the teeth became instead a gentle kiss as Link gave a sated sigh.

Rhett turned his head to start a fresh kiss, and tasted himself on the roaming tongue. Sharp and tart with a coppery finish, but then something more. Sweeter and fresher, and it was only then that he clearly sensed his synapsis being breached.

“You just urged me,” Rhett whispered, unable to keep the note of awe out of his voice. It should have taken at least 24 hours, and they were still just in the throes of foreplay.

“What?” Link slurred back, pupils blown wide and sex-starved.

“Your ability,” Rhett continued as he pulled away enough to see Link’s lovely form in the glow of sunlight. His longer legs still straddled the narrow hips. “Were you just thinking about food?”

Link gave a slow blink as he attempted to shake away the fog-filled lust.

“Yeah. That your kisses taste like honey,” Link answered shyly. Then his eyebrows raised as Rhett frowned in contemplation.

“You’re a Savor,” Rhett exhaled. “Can urge the sense of taste."

Link’s mouth opened in surprise. “Aren’t those kind of rare?”

Rhett gave a nod, and much to the relief of the newborn, the other vampire grabbed him by the shoulders and their bodies and mouths collided again. Groping and pulling everywhere that they could.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Link groaned as Rhett wrapped his hands around the tip of his length and rubbed. The swollen edge wet and silky smooth. His member thickened with Rhett's languid movements, fingers tugged up and down as Link bucked his hips in earnest. 

Rhett opened the drawer in the side table off to the right, and pulled out a small bottle of clear lube and opened it with a snap. Then with another turn of his fingers he pushed against the pink rose of Link’s soft entrance, and smirked as Link cried out again.

“ _ Ah _ ,” Link whined. His body pressed up and in at the two digits. Began to engulf them in a burning heat and pliable muscle. Rhett’s hands were deadly in their ability to cause Link to babble and squirm. Link would never be able to touch himself again without imagining Rhett’s skillful fingers; the way that they seemed to know what his body craved without straying or hesitation. 

Butterfly kisses went down Link’s neck, chest. Soft bites around his nipples and a small red mark sucked into the left side of his hip. By the time the dark blonde beard met his cock and licked it from base to tip, Link knew that every philosophy about sex he had ever considered was wrong. 

Sex was never just about distraction. It was about whatever the hell this was.  _ Here _ . With these lips so cool and soft that his chest hurt with a thrumming yearn. 

Every single thrust he had ever made in his adult life was all practice for being here. Inside this tiny hole of an apartment and driven so wild that he might actually swallow his own tongue.

There was vibration against his frenulum. Rhett was laughing, and it was glorious.

“Your come tastes like peanut butter,” Rhett muttered after he raised himself onto his elbows and glanced into the inky black eyes. “You’re actually making me taste peanut butter. Fucking ridiculous.”

They laughed again, and Link reached down and pulled Rhett up for another kiss, their mouths as flushed as their hips. A new ripple of desire swam around Link’s cortex all while Rhett tasted buttered popcorn. Chocolate chip cookies. Honey. Honey. Honey. 

_ So much delicious honey. _

The slight sting of slicked two fingers became three as Link opened. Rhett pushed inside again and again, and each time Link trembled around him. The puffs of warm air hit his jawline as the kisses grew sloppier. Each joint and tiny bone spread him wide. Angled with gentle purpose and maddened pulse, to literally have the pleasure of another in the palm of his hand took Rhett's breath away. 

Link's back arched against the pale blue sheets, and Rhett was reminded of a crescent moon in the distant sky. The smaller hands reached up to cup his bearded face, and Rhett saw the dark ebony eyes turn a shade of sapphire.

"Welcome to the other side," Rhett murmured low. "You're going to be a force of nature."

The grip tightened as Rhett was pulled towards the smiling face. The pecks tender and lingering while the firm fingers continued to press out and in, steady rolls of unbridled rapture. 

"Rhett," Link sobbed, as he felt his eyes roll back inside of his skull. "Please…"

An angry groan passed Link's lips as fingers left his relaxed core. He gaped as Rhett smeared gel around his length and stroked a lazy line. His mouth parted open as he stared back. 

"You were meant to be one of us," Rhett said, voice so low it might as well have been a prayer. "Too beautiful for the human world…"

Tears burned Link at the confession, and Rhett pressed himself inside. So different from his flexible fingers, but so much more glorious gratification. His member so wide and unyielding, it pushed Link to the limit of his hazy mind so maddeningly slow that for a moment, Rhett's tastebuds were assaulted with sour lemons. The apology came in the way he fully seated himself into Link’s molten core. Link yelled out as he adjusted, and Rhett became a pillar of stone.

“You all right?”

Link gritted his teeth. “Yeah, just...just give me a minute.”

Rhett hummed as he helped. Molded Link’s emotions to tender thoughts of pleasant afterglow, and then once he felt the smaller man’s legs encircle his lower back, Rhett gave a few short and shallow thrusts. The two of them might as well have been in the ocean. The sway of their bodies loose and full of something more than a first time. Rhett groaned into a new round of kisses, and Link held on long enough to hear him whisper, "The hell is it with you and honey?”

Link giggled again, and Rhett kissed it away. Like this was not just the start, but a continuation. As if the crust of the Earth could fall away and they would be just fine. That there was life outside of the sudden jolt that came with robbing strangers in blood-stained alleys.

“I’m close,” Rhett rasped, his hips stuttering.

Link grunted, no longer able to make words. Lost to the sensation of cherry birch and warm chestnut-colored beard and all the heat that their bodies made. Undulating hips and roaming arms and feet. The tickle of raven hair and rippled skin. The just-there of every touch until it was just finally too much.

When they fell, they were there together. Coming in a ribbon of feather-white lines and deep carnal growls. Rhett threw his head back as he allowed himself something so much closer to happiness. All sharp angles of bitter coolness evaporated, replaced with a scarlet glimmer.

The neighbors would probably talk. They usually did, about things like this. Even Caramel would cast a disapproving set of golden eyes for a nap disturbed, but neither of the vampires could be bothered by anything due to the pulsating ecstasy of what they had just done.

Breaking a newborn out of its shell.


	9. Flexing the Muscles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of you who tossed bushels of love and compliments and kindness my way through here and Tumblr, you all are the best! Thank you for making this bundle of nerves in the form of a writer feel like her story is worth making a reality.
> 
> As always huge thanks to sassandpanache, whatsastory nd its-mike-kapufty for beta reading and suggestions I was able to pluck from your minds and bury into my storylines. ❤️

Rhett moaned at the taste of vanilla now dancing on his tongue.Thumbs rubbed in small circles against the right hip and left collarbone of the creature underneath him - staring up at him with eyes that could rival a star-filled sky. That same familiar twist within his chest tightened, and more to distract than anything, he continued to nudge hot palms into the outline of what he created.

Link hummed at the caresses and delicate touches. Warmth and beard lined kisses were all his skin could recognize, and Rhett could create whatever new pathways he saw fit.

“Tha’ was just - ”

Link’s sentence was inhaled by another heated exchange of their opened mouths. Both of them sunk deeper into the mattress as they bathed in soft lips and gentle nibbles. Rhett seemed to need to tattoo his fingerprints into every inch of Link’s flesh, and lingered on the precipice of sending him into even more aftershocks.

“Holy shit… what you do with those hands,” Link growled, his own fingers exploring the jawline and cheeks above him. The heels of his feet skittered down the back of Rhett’s long femurs. Like a stone skipping across otherwise tranquil water.

There was a rumble of noise against Link’s lips as Rhett gave one more final peck, and he slowly shuffled off the bed. Left Link swallowed up in over- thick blankets, but the warmth lost as Rhett gathered up his scattered clothing.

Now there was the uncomfortable air in between them that Link had felt too many times: the tenseness of morning-after lovers heading away from his arms and straight for party dresses or button-down shirts. The zippered sounds of regret as they began to explain why sleeping with him had been fueled by strong laughs and even stronger alcohol.

“Glad that you enjoyed it,” Rhett said, and then swallowed hard. His brightened eyes swept the floor for his misplaced sock and needed hairbrush.  

“I didn’t hear  _ you _ complaining either,” Link muttered back, the cotton linens already pulled up tight to his chest like the shield they were destined to become. Somewhere just off to the right of Link’s bare shoulder, Stevie’s tsk of warning hovered, but Rhett’s noncommittal huff said much more than she ever could.

“It was nice,” Rhett admitted, the tone as direct and clinical as a medical scalpel. It shouldn’t have been possible for three words to cause skin to prickle and burn, and yet all at once Link’s skin was a mix of molten shame and broken capillaries, all of them shouting to the man pulling on his boxers that the whole thing had been about getting Link to stop fantasizing about eating the neighbor’s god damned cat.

It didn’t help that Link couldn’t turn away from the esquite lines of the body he had come across like snowy rainfall. Even now, there were still parts of his desire twinkling on Rhett’s wide chest and peach-fuzz belly. Mocking him for thinking that this was special.

That  _ he _ was special.

Link's fangs descended, his eyes darkened to a hollowed hue of cerulean flames. Rhett twitched at the shift of mood as if pushed with a blast of a deadly calm before a raging storm.

"The full awakening can be an emotional toll," Rhett said, meeting the gaze with equal alertness. "But with another feed and some rest, that can - "

"Don't you dare," Link hissed, and Rhett winced at the overwhelming taste of rotten fish invading every inch of his mouth. "Don't you dare fuck me wrecked and then act like it didn't mean anything. The things you said… were they just to get me harder for you than I already was?"

And another trickle of rotten fish pushed through Rhett's savory glands, with a backwash of stale bread and slightly-off butter. Rhett’s stomach turned. It was hard to separate the gross taste in his mouth with the accusations he was being forced to swallow. His heart stuttered in the base of his chest, and the ache that it caused had him swaying in place.

"Stop urging without -"

He gasped, and his left knee hit the floor hard as he took it. His rock hard emerald gaze met a wall of pain. Link's hurt and assumptions, a battle paint that ran from his reddened cheeks and eyes. 

"Without permission?" Link asked, though it was not really a question. Not a real one, given how  he licked his lips with such a two-sided tongue. The smile morphed into a grimace as Rhett grappled against the invasion, and waved Link out of his head, as if he was a fly bothering an afternoon lunch.

"Emotions…" Rhett whispered, more to himself than to Link. "They do nothing but fucking complicate."

Without another look over Link as he recovered, Rhett instead made his way back to the kitchen. Each padded footstep created the distance that he craved. Distractions were what they both needed now, and with a few measured motions he curled his fingers around a new vial of blood in the refrigerator, the chilled contents a blur of ruby as it rolled across the bedspread and came to rest at Link's left side.

"Drink," Rhett commanded, "and afterwards we'll talk about what - "

"Where did you even get this?" Link said, and his voice barely concealed the suspicious edge. "Or am I not allowed to know that either?"

Rhett opened his mouth, and then thought better of it. He needed to keep Link calm. Needed him to just properly listen long enough for the emotional mirroring to fade so that Rhett could stop feeling as if his heart was going to splinter every time those glistening blue eyes shifted his way. Why the fuck was he still this affected by him?

"I know enough about vampires to know pure tubes are limited," Link pressed on, his hand shaking the corked container. "You snapped at me about urging, but how do I know that you got this from a willing human?"

If Link wanted a reaction, he got it in spades. Rhett moved like a bolt of lightning as he gripped the smaller wrist. A surge of fear flashed through both of them, and it took all of the will power that Rhett possessed to not force Link to emotions that would have driven him mad if he was still cursed with a human mind.

"Just because I despise the human race doesn't mean I'm a monster who just takes what I need…"

The words were calculated and held rawness that caused Link's mind to go blank as he stared into his emerald eyes. The truth as rich and flawless as the blood in his trembling hand, and he nodded that he understood. Rhett released his grip, and watched as the new vampire opened the vial and sipped., the gulps slow and steady. Almost hesitant.

The next inquiry was so soft that it might as well have traveled to Rhett's ears on butterfly wings. 

"Is this blood from the dark-haired woman I saw in your mind?"

And with a stab of bone-breaking guilt that Rhett had not felt in nearly three silent decades, he was once again brought down to his knees. 


	10. Riding the Loop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of you wonderful readers for your comments and encouragement and to my flock of amazing betas for keeping my head above water! 
> 
> Find me on kik or Tumblr! <3

There were many whispered stories about vampires Link remembered from when he was too small to ask relevant questions. Legends meant to tantalize or terrify, and in some cases, both. As Link flew to Rhett's crumpled form on the toffee-brown carpet of the tiny apartment, he dismantled each of these incredibly childish misconceptions one by one.

Vampires are cold to the touch:  _ false _ .

Link’s hands gathered warmth as they travelled over Rhett's chest and lower back, heat in each finger and swipe of his palms. Contact seemed to help the taller vampire, and though his teeth were bared in what Link recognized too well as anguish, he wouldn't let go. He'd hold on to Rhett for as long as was needed. Cling to him like a lifeguard to a victim of a vicious undertow. The anger from a few moments ago was already lost to the gasps and guttural moans of the pile of closed eyes and opened mouth inside of his arms.  

Vampires are incapable of feeling pain:  _ false _ .

Rhett was doubled over in what could only be described as pure and unadulterated agony. His mouth transformed into a perfect imitation of a silent and unending scream. If Link had the ability to do anything but hold onto Rhett tightly in his grasp, he would have noted that Rhett was displaying the signs of a human having a seizure. The tightened muscles and glassed-over eyes. The long and skilled fingers now balled into fists and dragging them both down to placed dark and wicked.

Link held on, because what else could he do? There was a drive to protect and to salvage Rhett, and it felt like if either one of them stopped breathing, the other would just naturally follow. A string of a bond - and at this very moment the string was pulled far too taut.

“Rhett, please… can you hear me? What’s happening to you?”

Another gasp and a twitch was what Link received in response. The stoic demeanor stripped away and was replaced by something so close to human that Link couldn’t turn away. Somewhere, as if in another lifetime, Link recalled a faint conversation in a health class about what to do in situations like the one unfolding on the floor. To roll a seizure victim on their side and keep their airway clear. At once, Link released Rhett and laid him down, long legs and arms still jerking in an unsteady rhythm.

Vampires don’t trust others:  _ false _ .

The front door banged open with the force of a hurricane, and at the eye of the storm stood a curvy and elderly woman with dark grey hair and eyes to match. A small silver door key clutched tight in her wrinkled hand. There was a mewl of recognition from the tubby cat, and Link yelped as he realized that he was still incredibly naked.

“Oh honey,” the older woman said in a deep southern drawl. “You ain’t got nothin’ I haven’t seen before. Raised four boys back in my day.”

Caramel purred and ran along beside her as she closed the door with a loud snap. She pushed the door key back into a heavy black purse that swung from her left shoulder. Her plump legs shuffled over to Rhett’s shaking form with a startling amount of speed, and she kneeled down and placed a slender palm to his sweaty brow.

“Heard noise from next door and Rhett wasn’t answering my texts,” she explained, already raking her gaze from his head to his feet. “He always replies, so I knew something must be wrong. And for heaven’s sake, child. Put some clothes on in case we need to call 911.”

Link was already on his feet and headed back to the side of the bed. His underwear and jeans pulled up roughly and buttoned, and all the while the woman continued to place soft hands on different parts of Rhett. His neck and wrists and hips were all gently examined, and again, this seemed to do something to soothe Rhett in some way that Link could only begin to comprehend.

“Ms. Harrison?” Link muttered, once he had rejoined her.

“Emma,” she replied with a smile that revealed the edges of her own set of fangs. “No need  bein’ formal when I’ve seen your peas and sausage, baby.”

Link’s face turned a deep shade of red that didn't have a name, and Emma gave a hard laugh as she ran her fingers through Rhett’s thick honey-blonde hair. There was an elegance about this woman that made Link instantly think of his own grandmother back in North Carolina, with the sweet apple pies she used to make while she sang church hymns in her kitchen.

“You need to watch your urgin’,” Emma warned, but still smacked her lips in an enjoyable way. “Apple pies are my favorite too.”

The sapphire eyes fell back to Rhett, who now seemed to be breathing deeply. The tremors finally became more of an afterthought. Link could tell that Emma was watching him close, already answering questions inside of her own mind as to how Link had ended up naked and scared inside an apartment to which she clearly had a key for a reason.

“He’ll be all right,” she said, her voice the epitome of calm. “Looping is rough on Emoters, but Rhett is as tough as they come.”

Her eyes narrowed at the slight tilt of Link’s head at the word, and she inhaled through her nose before giving a long sigh and shake of her head.

“I see,” she whispered, and looked at Rhett again. “I’m assumin’ that if Rhett turned you, it was for a good reason…”

Link didn’t speak. Emma sighed again.

“Looping happens to vampires when they deal with extremes connected to how they urge. I’m a Grazer.” Then she lifted her hands for a moment and placed them back on Rhett’s right arm and neck. The aged purple line encircled her left wrist. “I urge touch, but if I get too cold or hot it can make my body try to urge itself to correct the problem. Vampires aren't able to self urge, so… it creates a loop affect, and causes our bodies to act up somethin’ fierce. With me, I go completely numb. With Emoters, it causes them to seize up like Rhett did.”

Link frowned - his mind a whirl with what must have happened - then swallowed hard. Emma stared at him, her slate-grey eyes as sharp as diamonds.

“Did Rhett have a sudden emotion about something horrible?” Emma prompted. “Did he say or do anything before he started to loop?”

The ghosts of their fight played like a horror movie in every part of Link’s pounding skull. It was his fault that this had happened to Rhett. It was because of him that Rhett was reduced to being trapped inside his own mind. His light hair falling like leaves against his browline.

“I asked him if the blood he gave me was from a dark-haired woman that I saw in his memories when we were…” He paused, then cleared his throat before he looked back to Emma’s stern face. “We were being intimate, you see, and - ”

Emma held up a hand to stop him, and her dark eyes flashed to a brilliant shade of mother-of-pearl. Her lips were suddenly tight as she took one step, and then another away from Link. “Honey, how in the  _ world _ did you find out about Jessie?”

Vampires don’t show fear:  _ false _ .


	11. Calming the Storm

Rhett never was someone who fell. Whether it be to the hard ground because of his huge feet, or to a lovely pair of eyes, regardless of color. Even before he had chosen to sign on the third, the fourth, and then  _ finally _ the fifth dotted line to be changed, Rhett had been steadfast and focused. It was just the way that he coped.

The throb of pain in his spine helped him connect the realization that he was on his back. Even with the healing powers that were part of being what he was, his lower vertebrae was still bombarded with ruptured discs that never seemed to get the memo. The constant ache flared up when he was placed in any position but on his right side. Then there were the muffled sounds of Emma's motherly concerns. They seemed to hug him tightly, and somehow that warm feeling was what helped him open his eyes.

“Rhett?”

Link’s voice was tentative, as if Rhett might actually shatter if addressed too loudly. Emma stopped in mid sentence. Her dark wrinkled face and stormy grey eyes raked over the tall vampire. Rhett groaned and twisted so that he was curled up. His head thrummed like it had been hollowed out and replaced with a swarm of angry bees.

“Jus’ give him a moment,” Emma said, her tone soft yet stern. Link frowned, but nodded. His hands found homes in the meat of his thighs and squeezed. Feeling for comfort that wasn’t ever going to appear.

The faded carpet burns were enough to tell Rhett what had happened, and with a wince and huff he pushed himself into a sitting position. His emerald green eyes bleared with the odd sensation of tears.

“Take it easy now, baby…” Emma hushed. “That was one hell of a loop you just rode.”

And that confirmed it. Emma knew more about everything to do with their kind. A large part of Rhett’s pride wanted to brush off the thought of becoming a victim of his own mind. Fourty years of emotions had been controlled and steered into a clear and present path, yet all of it had been undone by the mere mention of  _ her _ . Link hadn’t even said her name, and Rhett had broken like a newborn just learning to feel his fangs.

“Emma, how did… he know about..."

Rhett paused, his mind stunted at how slow and sluggish his own voice sounded. As if his mouth was willing him to take more time to recover, but that was nonsense. Rhett needed information  _ now _ .

The older woman turned to face him, making sure that Link could not see her mouth the words,  _ ‘We’ll talk later.’ _

Rhett sighed and allowed himself to be fussed over. She was right. There were things that needed to be put into place so that Link wasn't trapped in the apartment. Measures put into effect by Cole to assist in Link’s blending into the world until silence was bought and excuses were made by the right people.

Eventually, Rhett managed to make it to the couch in the living room, and had small cups of blended herbs mixed with a brandy and blood infusion pressed into his hands. It tasted too thick and bitter, but Emma was not to be argued with, so Rhett swallowed everything he was given. The couch dipped as Link sat next to him, his light fingers touching the small of Rhett’s back. Warmth flooded the connection point, and Rhett inhaled through his nose.

“You really scared me,” Link whispered, now clothed in a pair of Rhett’s tan slacks and black button-up shirt. The arms and legs of the outfit billowed slightly due to his smaller frame, and if anything it made Link look that much younger and delicate to Rhett. Someone to protect and cherish, like the newborn he truly still was.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Rhett muttered, not daring to look over into the aqua blue eyes. “Me losing control like that is - ”

“It  _ happens _ , Rhett,” Emma said tersely. “Loops happen and that’s just part of what we are. Doesn’t make you weak or nothin’ like that.” Her expression softened as she watched Link’s bottom lip tremble and then practically disappear between his top and bottom teeth. “Looping is natural. Don’t let Rhett tell you nothin’ different. You can’t  _ always _ control your body. I’m a nurse. I know.”

“Yes ma’am,” Link said softly.

An hour came and went. Two more cups of scarlet brew passed Rhett’s lips. His eyes and pulse were checked and then rechecked. The sound of Caramel’s grumpy mewls of wanting to go back into his own apartment were what finally got Emma to shuffle herself out, her suggestions of Rhett taking it easy for the next few days almost scary in their fervor.

The door shut only after Rhett promised to reach out if anything at all felt off. He moaned as he shifted into a full lay-down position on the long couch. Even with the length, his socked feet dangled off of the edge. Eyes closed, he took deep and steady breaths as he slowly began to feel like himself again.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Rhett grunted.

“Like what?”

Rhett opened an accusing right eye to Link, who was perched on the far arm of the couch like a sentry.

“Like I need lookin’ after. Like I need a hug whether I tell ya or not. I’m the same person who I was when I first bit you, Link. Last thing I want is you tiptoeing around me, ok? Loops happen. Just not something I’ve dealt with in a while. Not your fault my brain couldn’t handle what you saw.”

Link’s eyebrows rose, but Rhett didn’t see the reaction. His eyes were already closed again.

_ “Don’t push asking him more questions, _ ” Stevie warned Link.  _ “Emma said that he needs to rest.” _

The soft sound of a jazzy ringtone broke through the silence, and Rhett’s phone lit up on the side table. Rhett didn’t move, but Link lunged forward and picked it up. The caller ID flashed the picture of a round-faced man with a large grin and a mop of curly chestnut hair on the screen.

“Hello? Rhett McLaughlin’s phone.”

“Oh… is Rhett not available? I’ll be at the house in about ten minutes.”

Link swallowed hard, and glanced over to Rhett. His left arm was draped over his face and lips were parted. As if he had dozed off. Should Link wake him?

“No, he’s here… just away from his phone at the mo-”

“Are you Link?”

There was a jump in the speed of Link’s pulse at the question. He had no clue that Rhett had told anyone about him. Emma sure as hell hadn’t known who he was until she’d practically kicked down Rhett’s front door.

“Yeah… how do you know who I am?”

“Relax, man. Name’s Jordan. I’m a friend of Rhett’s family. He told me about you and him… ummm…  _ getting together, _ so to speak. I’m coming over to help. Be there in a bit.”


	12. Understanding the Breakdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. Thank you fo being so patient with me as I went through a rough patch in my story writing. I hope that this chapter helps make up for my absence. As always thank you to all my beta readers including sassandpanache, whatsastory and its-mike-kapufty.

The phone call disconnected with an almost sympathetic beep. The type of sound that gently reminds the person still holding the cell phone that they should really start getting prepared for more company. This new visitor was much younger, and by the flow of the short conversation, had been directly invited by the now-softly snoring vampire stretched out on the couch.

Link placed the phone back into the coffee table, with nothing to keep his thoughts from finding new ways to destroy him. No matter how many people were around to touch him on the top of his head or curve of his shoulder. To soften their words to ask if he was all right, or who in the world he was talking to. Even before she had a name, it was Stevie. It was  _ always _ Stevie, at this moment hastily scribbling in the grooves of Link's weary brain stem phrases like  _ Don't panic  _ and  _ Everything will be fine. You'll see. _

Link groaned. A queasy unease with a splash of guilt and misery. This emotional cocktail felt more normal. The sunken feeling in the pit of his chest where the heart beat too fast. To remind him that good things  _ only _ happen to good people. That sex and love go hand and hand. 

That was what hope did. It created false contingency plans, and the familiarity of failure-reinforced barriers that Link understood.

Rhett's loop was his fault. 

He gave the cold hard truth a mirthless chuckle. Leave it to the one and only Link Neal to make the best sex of his life into something he was never meant to have. Even now he wished he had allowed himself more time to get lost in the woodsy smell of Rhett against the bridge of his nose. Enjoy the way that his moans would be swallowed up by lips way softer than he ever imagined could exist in front of such a sharp tongue. Link shouldn't have asked about the woman inside of that last locked door of Rhett's guarded mind, her tears desperate and pleading for help. For  _ anyone _ to save her.

This woman - Jessie, as Emma had called her - was dead. There was way too much blood for her to still be alive. And what was worse, was that she had  _ known _ that she was dying. Link had seen that same expression before. Had witnessed that same pained acceptance in his past, living out on the streets as he slowly escaped North Carolina. Most of them trying to find their next high in either the tip of a needle or rim of a bottle. The way the body would tremble and cling onto life even as the mind began to shut down. The light behind the eyes slowly dimming until nothing was left but reflective shells.

And still, another part of Link hated this woman just as much as his chest ached for her fate. Not because of how lovely she was; that would be horrifyingly superficial enough to have Stevie filling up a brand new notepad. It was because of the way Rhett had recoiled at just the  _ mention _ of her. Like he had been shown that a piece of his heart that had been left a few steps behind him, and his body had collapsed at the loss. This woman was oxygen, and Link had said the magical phrase that made Rhett realize he hadn't been breathing for years. 

Rhett's loop was his fault. 

It was greed that had gotten Link to this familiar place, the need to grab more when what he already had was barely there. He had accused Rhett of what exactly? Having the nerve to love someone? Keeping a memory of someone so powerful to his guarded heart that it could bring him to his knees?

Link blinked away what must have been tears. There was no time for them or the way that Stevie looked at him in the corner of his eye. She clearly longed to hug him in a way that only a friend could who had seen someone they cherish make the same mistakes over and over again. 

"I need to get ready to meet whoever this Jordan is…" Link muttered. "Get a  _ fucking _ grip."

To help push the point, he closed his wet eyes until the tears became not just a suggestion, but truly a statement. That the long limbed vampire had done so much more than invade his mind and muscles. That beyond the guilt and anger and fear within his chest there was something softer and warmer. Right  _ there _ . Against the broken parts of what used to be what he gave away so easily. Until he realized that people were too reckless. Too fickle. Too cruel. 

Perhaps this feeling that simmered just below the familiarity of self loathing and salty regret would stay a while. Like a dreamlike version of yet another haughty cat who would refuse to leave, even after Link had tried and failed to make it go away. Link chuckled at the visual, sat down on the edge of the couch, and focused on the newness of what was happening to him inside of these four walls. 

Rhett's loop was his fault. 

But Rhett also  _ chose _ him to turn into what now sat in this tiny apartment in the core of this swollen city. The imaginary Caramel in Link's thoughts dug in its claws and purred. Stevie’s giggle blended in almost too perfectly with Rhett's deep snores, and that confirmed what Link had known since he had first peered into those emerald green eyes. 

He was in love with the creature swallowed up by both cushions and exhaustion just off to his right. The wavy dark blonde hair still a tangled mound as an ongoing testimonial of what Link's fingers could do when they found something worthy to explore. Link's stomach twisted at the epiphany, at how a single day could break him apart and put him back into a shape that he couldn't even begin to recognize, but fit him better. 

He only hoped that Rhett could feel the same way. That Link was more than just a curiosity. More than what Link saw when he looked into the mirror the morning after. And that - if Rhett didn't - the blow to Link’s mending heart would be swift and sharp enough to finally finish the job that so many others had started.


	13. Reliving the Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to its-mike-kapufty for you wonderful mentoring and betaing. You are truly a precious peach! ♥️

There’s an old saying: _what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger_. Link remembered hearing this at pivotal times in his life. When his heart was hammering hard with the effort to not cry. To not feel the way pain makes strategic attacks on both your muscles and your mind. The sensation of the squeeze of his mother’s black-gloved hand as his grandfather was lowered into the ground. Back then, Link had to stand on his tiptoes to see the small collection of wildflowers he had placed on top of the shiny box. Held his breath and counted to ten. Then to twenty. Then to thirty. 

Before Stevie started to whisper to him, this was how Link survived. He inhaled the world with puffed out cheeks until he became hazy around the edges. Allowed his lungs to collapse, along with every other part of himself. And finally, crashed to the unforgiving earth below.

So maybe that’s why when the knock on the door finally came, Link was on the carpeted floor. Curled up into the shape of a falling star, with his face turned to watch Rhett above him. See as the emerald eyes fluttered open at the sound of yet another fist as it demanded entry. 

"When the hell did my place get so freakin’ popular?"

Then in a blur of overly-long limbs and deliberate curses, Rhett became even more connected to the couch. His slender nose and delicate chin pressed deep against the cushions, leaving Link with a view of his narrow back and angled hips that he now knew too well. 

 _"Are you really looking at his butt at a time like this?"_ Stevie asked. Her annoyance dripped at  the end of the question, and Link shook his head and blinked away everything around him except for the front door. 

His clothing and hair both screamed of sex and desperation. But at this point, whatever tiny amount of dignity Link had held before now had left with Emma and her haughty cat. So what did it matter how he came across to another one of Rhett's friends? 

With a twist of the lock and pull of the door, Link found himself staring at yet another vampire. Though this one was much younger and male, his hair a tangle of brassy curls that settled about a round and surprisingly friendly face. Over his broad shoulders he carried a black messenger bag, and he stepped over the threshold as if Link had invited him in like a long-lost relative. 

"You must be Link," the vampire said as he closed the door behind him. "I'm Jordan. Pleasure to finally meet you." Jordan's right hand clapped Link on the back and rubbed. The circular pattern went clockwise, and something in Link's chest twisted in the opposite direction. It was hard to tell in what order the next movements came, since they were so rushed and deliberate. 

A softened expression in Jordan's kind blue eyes. The flood of warmth in Link's cheeks and throat. The realization that he was being hugged. Held securely in strong and sturdy arms for just the right amount of time. Suddenly, something small and frail escaped Link's lips, and again his mind took too long to gather relevant information. That the old saying around death and strength made perfect sense. It only took thirty- five years for him to connect the dots. 

"Why are you doing this?" Link asked, already internally wincing at how accusatory and uncaring it must sound.

"Because it's part of who _I_ am, and part of what _you_ need," Jordan replied. Then a solid wave of calmness came to rest on Link's shoulders, and a familiar blue tattoo encircling Jordan's wrist confirmed what he already knew. 

"Didn't think Emoters were the hugging type."

Jordan chuckled as he pulled away. His smile was the best thing Link had witnessed for hours. 

"In general, Emoters are some of the most cuddly creatures you'll ever meet. It's _Rhett_ that's the oddball. Although…"

It was only then that Link's wild hair and thrown- on oversized clothes were truly taken in. Link could actually sense his cheeks going bright red again, and gave a shifty glance back over to Rhett’s still form on the couch. 

"...Rhett has his moments, it seems," Jordan finished, and gave a little wink. 

There was no way to excuse away what all of this must have looked like, even if Rhett hadn’t already told Jordan what Link was, and how he had matured within a few hours’ time. Still, Link wrapped his arms around himself and looked down at his bare feet. Let his slender toes dig into the thick carpet, and wished he could disappear. 

A sigh reverberated inside his own head, and he muttered to Stevie to just leave him alone.

“You have someone else in there, don’t you?”

Link jerked his head back up to meet Jordan’s face,. his expression now one of quiet understanding. Then came the same gentle tapping at the back of Link’s mind to request entry. Link nodded, and his brain was filled with summer days on sandy beaches. He could almost feel the sea air against his skin as he was ushered into the opened bedroom. 

“We can talk in here.” Jordan’s voice was hushed and gaze laser-focused. “Give Rhett some more time to rest. I know about the loop. I can’t even imagine how scary that must have been for you to see.”

He gestured for Link to sit down at the foot of the bed, and Link did so. His mind became his own again, but the relaxed feeling remained. Like a shadow in the recesses of his cortex. 

“How did you know about - “

“Emma,” Jordan said simply, with his eyes full of fondness. “Rhett may be walled-off, but he has a close circle of stubborn friends who care a great deal about him. He’ll be fine, Link, but I want to know about you. How are _you_ feeling? You’re connected to Rhett’s body in more ways than one now.”

It was almost too much, that so many assumptions about aloof and uncaring vampires could be destroyed in the boundaries of this apartment. Link cleared his throat to attempt to make the lie that he was _just fine_ sound as convincing as possible. After a moment, he instead swallowed hard. 

“Hey,” Jordan whispered, as he sat down on the bed beside him. Just far enough for Link to not feel overwhelmed. “We don’t have to talk about the loop right now, okay? Would you be all right about telling me who you were talking to out there in the living room? I know that it wasn’t me or Rhett.”

“Stevie,” Link said, his eyes on his feet once again. “She… she isn’t real. Just a figment of my fucked- up brain.“

“Does she help you?” 

And for the second time, Link’s head twisted to meet Jordan’s intense eyes. Their hue now nearly the color of the darkening evening sky, Link searched them for even a trace of ridicule or scorn. Neither was found.

“Yes, she does.”

“Then she’s as real as you, me, or anyone else.”

_“Please try to trust him, Link.”_


	14. Scaring the Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you to its-mike-kapufty for their amazing beta work!

Young men from dignified southern families didn't have imaginary friends. 

This was never said out loud in the Neal household, but the implications blended smoothly with the afternoon cups of sweetened iced tea. The blonde therapist who followed a certain little boy around with pen and notepad was  _ not _ mentioned at suppertime, or any other time as a matter of fact. At first, Link fought this new version of normal, but there were only so many sharp changes in conversation that he could take. Especially when he wanted his parents’ attention just as much as he wanted Stevie whispering in his ear. 

So Link did what he always did when confronted with a choice he had to make: he bent the rules. Reshaped the status quo. Stevie stayed locked up safe inside of his mind, only to be revealed after goodnight kisses or during lonely barefoot walks in the woods. 

That was what threw Link so off-guard about the curly-haired vampire sitting next to him on the foot of Rhett’s bed. Jordan had asked about her. Actually  _ asked  _ to know more. Had peered inside of Link's skull like it was a picture window, and when Stevie had waved, Jordan had wanted to wave back. 

"She said that I should try to trust you," Link admitted. 

Jordan smiled as he opened up his messenger bag.

"Then please tell her that I appreciate that, and I promise to go over everything I'm going to do today so that  _ both  _ of you understand, all right?”

Link’s nod was stiff, but deliberate. His now crystal-clear vision followed the first item pulled out of the black bag. At first, it looked like a breathalyzer. But it had to be more than that. Alcohol was destined to be part of Link’s life now, but what was the point of measuring it by any  _ human _ standards anymore? On the side—where numbers usually gauged how drunk the blower was—lived instead a row of six small unlit bulbs in various colors of blue, green, purple, pink, orange, and red.

“This is called a sensorgraph,” Jordan explained. “And yes, in case you were wondering,  it works very much like a breathalyzer. Except it registers your urging ability instead of the number of bad decisions at a club.” He gave a soft laugh more to himself than to Link. “Well, your bad  _ drinking _ decisions anyway.”

Link swallowed a giggle, held out his hand, and took the device. The handle was smooth and cool to the touch. Other than the lights there was nothing noteworthy about it. Perhaps that was on purpose.

“Just blow until one of the lights blinks on and off. Usually it takes a few seconds, so just keep your breathing as controlled as you can. Should be pink, since Rhett said that you urged taste with him, but I want to make sure before we move on to give you a more  _ permanent _ mark.”

With that Jordan tapped at his left wrist with his right index finger. The blue line tattoo was bolder than Emma’s faded purple one, though that made sense considering her age. Link lifted the gadget to his face and placed his lips onto the mouthpiece and blew out a long, steady breath. It had barely been a second before the pink light on the sensorgraph lit up, but instead of blinking off and on, it stayed lit. Then the pink light grew brighter and brighter until Jordan’s expression turned suddenly concerned. 

“That’s good, Link. Stop for now.”

Link did what he was told, but the light didn’t shut off. Instead it stayed almost a blinding shade of blush-colored defiance. Then with an almost comical sound the light gave a small pop as it cracked down the middle and the rosy hue was gone forever. 

“Oh shit,” Link yelped, “I’m sorry! I’ll find a way to buy you another - “

“No need,” Jordan muttered, but his eyes had turned an inky midnight color as he examined the remnants of the device. As if trying to decide if it was worth taking apart to figure out what had happened, or to wait for Link to not be there to observe. Apparently he chose the latter, and with a slight shrug he placed the sensorgraph back in the bag. 

“Might have had the sensitivity dialed up too much,” Jordan continued. “It’s government-issued. Not anything for you to worry about. The important thing is that you are absolutely a Savor. Haven’t been around one of your kind in quite a long time. Your urging power is unique… and fascinating.”

The edges of Link’s ears burned with the compliment, and he needed to look away. Instead he focused on his other senses that had been heightened because of Rhett: the sound of the bathroom sink’s steady water drip where Rhett had composed himself after a surge of arousal had overtaken him; the scent of their heated bodies unraveling in the crumpled bed sheets; how Rhett’s salty skin had danced against his tongue like an electric current.

_ Rhett.  _

Even now Link could sense his presence. Rhett’s body shifting on the couch, still on the edge of consciousness after his loop. The slender fingers clutching tight onto the fabric of cushions as he struggled to maintain the facade that had been built for what must have felt like ten lifetimes. Part of Link that still was swallowed in guilt for mentioning Jessie quaked at the sensation, wanted to rise from the bed and go to Rhett. Hold him close and give himself over to him. Complete the circuit of what they had been before. When Link was still basking in beard-soft kisses and bone-deep satisfaction. Their muscles throbbing with each other’s thrusts and gasps until they both became nothing but particles evaporating into the atmosphere. Just beyond the place that Link was staring into the middle distance, he heard more items coming out of the black bag and resting next to him on the bed. Link’s eyebrows raised curiously at the tiny tattoo kit.

“I’m going to give you an urger tattoo,” Jordan said. “I’ve done a few before for unregistered vampires, so I have a knack for it. Don’t worry. If anyone asks about the freshness of it, just stick to the story in the paperwork you’re getting today.”

“What if people don’t believe me?”

Jordan snorted loudly, and then tried and failed to turn the noise into a cough.

“Your creator’s brother is one of the highest ranking officials in the _ Vampire and Human Relations _ department. Even if there  _ were _ suspicions to your legitimacy, I doubt that you’ll be bothered.”

This provided little comfort, but Link still nodded all the same. 

“Now, when you’re ready, give me your left wrist, and let’s make it so you aren’t trapped in Rhett’s apartment anymore, hmm?”

The tattoo stung like fire, but in less than an hour there was a bright pink line around Link’s wrist. The plastic wrap bandage stuck to the healing ointment, and Link listened carefully to Jordan’s aftercare instructions until a shudder rippled through Link’s chest and down towards his toes. It started at the back of his neck, making the hairs stand on end. As if the most important thing in the world was silently yearning for his heart. It called out to him, and its cries went straight to the marrow of Link's bones.

“What’s wrong?” Jordan asked, noticing the reaction. 

“I think that Rhett’s awake. I need to check on him.“

Link made to stand up, but faltered at the wave of Jordan’s hand. For the first time since Link had met him, there was caution in the other vampire’s eyes. 

“I need to talk to him first. Just give us a few minutes, then come in the living room. Regardless of what Rhett says or does, you do  _ exactly  _ what your instincts tell you to do. Do you understand?"

The tingle in Link's muscles to run to where Rhett was ached, but Link stayed still. Mechanically he nodded his head and watched as Jordan left him in the bedroom with a quiet shut of the door.


	15. Feeling the Crave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thanks and love to its-mike-kapufty and sassandpanache for their beta work and wonderful support in this story. My brain has been wired with having so much lore and information, and they have both been shoulders to cry on and bounce ideas off of more than once. I just want to become a better writer, so any kudos, comments or helpful feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Tad<3

Rhett whimpered into the coolness of the air. Actually  _ whimpered _ like some sort of half-starved creature that was far too close to its mortal end. The constant throbbing of his head was gone, but now in its place was a shift in what must have been the center of his core. As if his blood cells had been rearranged and were pulling him towards his bedroom. To touch and keen and claw at what he’d created. 

He growled as he twisted on the couch. Teeth bared and fingers grasping onto anything he could to stop himself from giving in. Hunger like this wasn't exactly rare. It happened when he was between jobs and too stubborn to beg Cole for blood mix money. It happened when Jessie had died and he had refused to drink. When the loops and grief had hollowed him out and all he wanted was to cease to exist. To flake away. To crumble into nothingness.

"Can you give me permission, Rhett? I don't want to push in if you can formally consent."

Jordan's face came into watery realization. His dark blue eyes alight in a pressing darkness. Firm palms held Rhett's face in place as he tried and failed to adjust his focus. The urging request barely recognized. 

"It hurts. Why does it - "

The rest of Rhett's question gave way to a groan as Jordan sunk into his mind. The urge hesitant, but definitely there. Sweeping through the frontal lobe and sitting there like a sentry guard. Protecting the fallen soldier of Rhett's sanity until reinforcements came. 

"More…" Rhett choked, and he silently hated how horrid it came out. Like a kitten mewling for milk from its wayward mother. "Please…it hurts so much."

"You don't need urging," Jordan replied, his words firm and clear as he allowed his shirt to be clutched in Rhett's shaking grip. "You're showing classic signs of Crave, and Link is reacting to it.  He can do way more than - "

The door to the bedroom opened again and Link charged at the two vampires. Blue eyes almost blindingly sapphire as Jordan pulled away from Rhett's sweaty grasp and watched as Link he fell to his knees and offered his neck. Pressed the pale column of skin to Rhett's lips and held himself there.

Rhett tried to push the smaller vampire away, but there was a conflict in every shake and shiver of his arms. Link had no idea what was about to occur, but obeyed what every single part of his body and mind were screaming in unison. 

_ Give. Give. Give. _

"No," Rhett screamed,  voice slightly muffled from Link being close. Way too close. "I can't. I'm not some teat suckling _ newborn. _ "

But already his limbs were betraying his proclamations. Hands swept into thick black hair streaked with silver. The nose sniffed for the pulse point near the large adam's apple of his prize. Sweet honeysuckle and home and he had to taste.  _ Needed _ to stop the burning lava inside his bloodstream.

"Rhett…" Link whispered, and the grip in his hair grew tighter, but still no eruption or break. Behind him Jordan made an exasperated sound. 

"You've been changed long enough to know that this…" Jordan paused just long enough to keep his own composure. His hands scrubbing at his face as he struggled not to yell. "That  _ this _ isn't just wanting a simple feed. You don't just need food. You need  _ him." _

Link pressed even closer into Rhett. Practically on top of him now, with his arms wrapped around Rhett's torso. Neck still exposed and could just feel the brush of fang tips against his carotid artery. 

"For hell's sake," Jordan shouted and Rhett actually hissed. "Do it, before you end up in another loop, or worse. There's  _ nothing  _ wrong with it when you have a natural connection with the source!"

Link sensed his body cooling the twitching muscles beneath him. His racing heart in stark contrast to the calmness of his breaths as Rhett’s tension ebbed away. Vaguely Rhett made a last ditch effort to tap at Link's mind. Tried to lure his stubbornness into a hazy fog, but the attempt had none of Rhett's usual intensity. Then with a soft curse of  _ fuck  _ nestled somewhere in the milometers of space between them, Rhett broke. First his defenses and then Link's skin, and began to drink.

There was a gasp that somehow left Link's mouth, and he tightened his hug. His legs wrapping around the longer legs. Sapphire eyes fluttered shut as the sound of footsteps and the opening and closing of what must have been the front door. Jordan had left and it was just the two of them once more. 

Link had heard stories about vampires drinking blood directly from others. Mostly told in hushed tones in like minded company. That it was something ruthless and dangerous. No different than a fox ripping the flesh off of what used to be a rabbit. 

This was a lie, of course. Tales spun by the ignorant and scared. There was nothing painful in this. The give and take. Push and pull. Power and fragility. 

Rhett’s chest rumbled and Link vibrated against him. A purr of satisfaction that Rhett couldn't hide. The heat of lips, tongue and beard as Link counted the small and delicate swallowing motions. The subtle grind of Rhett's hips on his own growing erection. 

"Holy shit," Link moaned. Then another moan as the large hands slinked down the fabric of thin cloth. To rest on the globes of Link's ass and  _ squeeze _ . Clutching, as if letting go would tilt the world off its axis. That the very idea of stopping this would be what finally broke what was left of Rhett's existence, and for the first time since he lost Jessie, he wanted that. 

Rhett  _ wanted _ to exist. Here, in the shifting space with a mouth full of thickly coated essence. It was too much and not enough at the same instant, and a half-hidden sob found root in the back of his throat. All while Link opened Rhett's fly and slipped his right hand down to capture the velvet hardness in his tunneled fingers.

The reaction was a gasp against the deep bite mark, and Link tilted his head as far as he could without disturbing Rhett's feed. Had to witness every bit of pleasure he was able to give. Rhett's sharp hips as they rocked back and forth. The emerald eyes heavy lidded as Rhett inhaled out of his nose and pulled more blood inside. The heat rose, and Link rutted in return, their movements a metronome of chased oxygen and barely-restrained whines. Rhett licked at the small holes of the bite as Link ground down. The sweet blood coagulating and already beginning to heal. Then with a long kiss, Rhett made haste to work the oversized pants Link had borrowed down to his knees. Link returned each kiss, equal parts timid and fevered. The edge of his tongue to the crease of Rhett's bearded mouth until the golden hairs turned to crystalized sunshine. 

Rhett tasted a new combination of hickory smoke and roasted marshmallows, in exchange for giving Link the sensation of what the mind felt after a rainstorm. Their groans in unison and the rutting more urgent.

Link’s breath fell away to sharp, short grunts, and Rhett was equally lost. Those usually suspiciously cunning eyes of his now wide, and taking in  _ everything _ . There was a pounding in Link’s rib cage at being gazed at this way. As if he was morning dew on fresh fallen leaves. Something so precious and stunning that Rhett had to halt his ministrations to truly take  _ every _ inch of the vampire above him.

“Why’d you stop?” Link rasped, his face a patchwork of desire and uncertainty. Rhett didn’t respond for the longest moment. Instead placed his fingers to Link’s bandaged tattoo and rubbed in a soft circle, the touch so light that it sent a shiver down Link’s telescoping spine. 

“You don’t realize it, do you?” Rhett asked, then chuckled at the small flicker of puzzlement in the oceanic eyes. 

“Realize what?” 

“That I don’t have to go inside of your mind to feel you now. To see your heart anymore. It’s written like songs in your laugh lines. Painted in the pulsepoint of your tattoo. God...you have no idea what you do to me, do ya beau?”

Link laid chest to chest with Rhett. His mouth slightly opened in what could’ve only been shock. The lust evaporated into something stronger. Bullet proof. As unyielding and permanent as a vampire’s bite in a blood-soaked alley. 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Rhett smiled, and for the first time since they met, Link saw the shadow of the human man underneath the shield of immortality. 

"Exactly what you think it does."


	16. Tasting the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you for your patience as I get my story together, and to Mike for being an amazing beta reader! :-)

Comfort and warmth. Two sensations that Rhett hadn’t felt this close to his ribcage for close to four decades. Yet here it was, wrapped up in his arms and snoring so softly. The crystal blue eyes hidden away behind long midnight lashes and unaware of how the being underneath it was dissolving in equal measures of relief and despair. 

Rhett breathed in the air around him. A powerful aroma of rich honeysuckle and long country roads. The mingling smells crept inside every inch of space where their bodies touched, and Rhett felt whole.

Jessie was the only one who did this to him. Made him feel wrong-footed and dizzy. Unbalanced in a way that had Rhett’s bones in a constant state of flux, bent into curves and angles in which Rhett saw the best parts of himself, reflected from those dark hazel eyes. But now as the apartment walls slowly began to glow with the beginnings of daybreak, Rhett shuddered at the very thought that Link's ability could bend him, too. Jessie wasn't supposed to be replaced, her delicate memory sealed within his hippocampus. A grave of the way she smiled and laughed that Rhett visited when he needed. It had been enough to keep him sane and stoic. 

Yet here Rhett laid with another against his chest, and Jessie Lane was no longer who he saw when he closed his eyes. Muscles tightened around Rhett in a powerful hug, as if Link could sense bubbling distress even in deepest sleep. 

The pastel shades of morning clung to each and every surface they could. Still, Rhett didn’t move. Link was rooted somewhere in wayward dreams while Rhett was weighed down by darker decisions—for bringing Link into a life that he hadn’t chosen. Hadn’t  _ really _ chosen, now that the pain of the last couple of days had run its course and Rhett could properly think again. Link had been dying in that filthy alleyway. The words of Jordan reverberated through his mind again and again. 

_ "You're showing classic signs of Crave, and Link is reacting to it." _

Crave. Jordan might as well told Rhett he had polio for as rare as crave was. At this point the disorder so stamped out by government intervention that its mention was barely a few lines in the piles of paperwork for becoming changed. Crave just didn’t happen anymore. 

At least up until now.

Eventually Rhett was able to slide out from underneath Link. The other vampire whined softly at the loss of connection, but still remained asleep. The carpet was just thick enough to muffle Rhett’s foot steps as he padded along to the ice cold tile floor of the small kitchen. 

Vampires had no  _ real _ need of mortal meals. Some of the changed still occasionally ate. The desire to blend into the world they left was too difficult to battle. Sadly, a drawback of no longer being human was that meals became bland to the tastebuds; the only part of the vampire’s sharpened senses to dull, Rhett lost the enjoyment of so many delicious foods. 

It has been decades since Rhett had what he now considered to be a “human meal”. Still, he kept small amounts of canned food here and there, just in case Cole happened to turn up to yell at him for supposed indiscretions that were petty even by sibling standards. Back when Jessie shared his heart it didn’t matter that he had lost the enjoyment of what food had been. Jessie had made everything better just by existing in the same atmosphere as Rhett. 

Rhett reached up to the cupboard to the right of the small refrigerator and pulled out a dusty can. Dented, old and label long ago faded, but Rhett’s hand gripped the can of baked beans as he did with any of his human memories—with care and caution—only to be recalled when he could take in each detail with all of his focus. 

The can was opened and the contents poured into one of Rhett’s only bowls. The smell was as strong as he remembered, and his stomach twisted as he brought the spoon to his lips. The first bite was full of hope that Rhett already knew was worthless, the flavor a sorry excuse  to the memory of his favorite food. Another scoop and he closed his eyes. Maybe if he allowed his mind to drift, it could help him to imagine the sweet and buttery goodness of the beans. The blending of ketchup and salt that lingered in the sauce. 

Then it happened. Almost too subtle to notice at first, but Rhett felt it: the gentle ruffle in the back of his mind from a familiar force; the sensation of Link entering his mind, with the scent of honeysuckle touching his neurons like fingerprints. 

Brown sugar and tangy brown mustard danced on his tongue. Then the silky smooth richness that only molasses could bring. Rhett’s tastebuds were reeling as he took another spoonful. Chewed and swallowed up the bowl of comforting love that was until now left in the shadows of the past. Rhett knew he was trembling, but he didn’t care. His emerald eyes shifted in the blossoming sunlight to see Link sitting on the couch. The look of concentration melted into one of relief that he had urged the right combination of flavors. 

“I hope that it was okay,” Link offered. 

Rhett didn’t answer. Not with the way his mouth seemed to be disconnected from his mind. Too heavily invested into finally tasting one of the best parts of his life before he became a vampire. Back when life was about simple pleasures. Even before he had met Jessie, Rhett had known  _ this _ kind of happiness. The kind of happiness found when you had no one to help you understand how your heart managed to survive being torn apart, and clumsily put back together. 

Rhett stared at the sleepy-eyed vampire. Something swirled inside his chest. A rhythmic sense of connection and responsibility took root in a way that Rhett knew was more powerful than himself. More powerful than the both of them. 

Rhett needed to do right by Link. He just needed to figure out how.


	17. Collecting the Data

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters should be coming out quicker now with some changes to my schedule. As always thank you to Mike for their beta work and you all for your patience.

Papers scattered the mattress. Delicate square pieces of carefully crafted statements that Link picked up and scanned, then after a breath, would actually read. Words that blended half truths with the seedier parts of his path from the streets of Los Angeles to this very spot. Rhett had asked him to read and reread it all until the story felt comfortable. Link recalled nodding back without connecting the dots, but lies were fine. They had been fine since before he knew that it was better to change himself instead of all of the people around him. It definitely hurt a hell of a lot less. 

 

**Charles Lincoln Neal the Third was found on September 16th at approximately 10:45pm by Rhett James McLaughlin. McLaughlin witnessed Neal in a semi conscious state from an apparent attack and losing copious amounts of blood stemming from a neck wound. Incident recorded at the back alleyway of McLaughlin’s apartment of 12th Street. Choroid artery of Neal partially severed and death eminent if McLaughlin had not assisted.**

 

Link shut his eyes and paused. The scene fleshed out in hazy blurs of black, white, and scarlet. He didn’t know that the human body had so much blood until a few nights ago. How cold the street could feel on naked flesh. How he could sense everything all at once until the noises of the outside world competed with the ones inside of his own head and heart. 

 

 **McLaughlin provided aid by way of changing Neal via the** **great saphenous vein. The shift was fairly unremarkable according to McLaughlin. Due to the nature of Neal’s change, further medical testing will need to be performed to monitor if Crave and/or an Everlasting Bond has occurred between the two vampires. At the behest of Cole McLaughlin, Director of the Los Angeles Department’s Chapter of the** **Vampire and Human Relations, Neal is to stay under the care and supervision of Rhett McLaughlin until further notice. The younger McLaughlin has been transparent with this department as to the present emotional and sexual nature of his relationship with Neal, along his desire to continue it.**

 

 _“Reread that part, Link,”_ Stevie whispered. _“It’s important.”_

**The younger McLaughlin has been transparent with this department as to the present emotional and sexual nature of his relationship with Neal, along his desire to continue it.**

_“Again.”_

**The younger McLaughlin has been incredibly transparent with this department as to the present emotional and sexual nature of his relationship with Neal, along his desire to continue it.**

 

“It doesn’t mean that he loves me.”

Link paused as he waited for her to try to convince him that he was wrong. That he should try to see things from a different point of view. She was always good at that. Was able to follow him around like a better version of a shadow. Yet no sounds came except the rustlings of the next sheet of paper.

 

**Greetings Mr. Charles L. Neal,**

**Listed below are list of scheduled doctors for you to attend for overall testing. Please try to attend all scheduled visits below, or it may delay final approval for your entry into the vampiric race.  Jordan Morris of the Regulation and Confirmation Office has recently confirmed your urging ability as a Savor. Therefore, the listed Urger appointment may be cancelled. Otherwise, we look forward to getting all documented testing back. If you have questions please refer to the number listed on the second page of this document.**

**Sincerely,**

**Nicollette Hanson**

**Human to Vampire Liaison**

**(Los Angeles division)**

 

Doctors to explore him. To check off little boxes of what he was and now had become. They would scrape away the dirt and grime that he had packed on top of himself for years. Discover how many skeletons dangled along with the articles of clothing in his hidden closets. Perhaps they’d frown and just close the door; chalk up the ugliness as not worth trying to figure out. A waste of their valuable time and governmental resources. 

 

  * ****Doctor Francis Roundtree (Vampiric General Practitioner)**** **September 24 at 1:30pm**


  * ****Doctor Tim Towns (Urger) September 25 at 10:00am****


  * **Doctor Beth Young (Hematologist) September 25 at 3:30pm**


  * **Doctor Gina Jackson (Psychologist) September 27 at 2:15pm**


  * **Doctor Melanie Ricksby (Vampiric Nutritionist) September 30 at 11:00am**



 

Link realized that he was shaking before Stevie rushed back into his mind. The familiar sensation of so many thoughts of what could go wrong. 

 

_“He’ll be back soon. He promised that he’ll be back soon.”_


	18. Bursting the Bubble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, comments and patience is all I ask, and this fandom has always delivered. Thank you as always to everyone, and of course you as well, Mike. <3

The two of them stood perfectly still, the patio door only feet away. The green eyes traveled over the downturned mouth. Felt the twitch of muscle in the middle and ring fingers of the right hand he held in his left. 

"Breathing is key in all of this, Link. Once I open that door, all of your heightened senses will automatically start feeding your brain new data. It'll scare you. Overwhelm your frontal lobe and nervous system."

The right hand tightened even though Link didn't shift his gaze to anything but the sliding glass door of the outside balcony. 

"If you hear, smell, or see too much," Rhett continued, his voice barely a whisper, "I'll urge you enough to slow your heartbeat to a safer level. But this ultimately is about you learning how to cope with your abilities. Do you understand?"

Link swallowed hard, then nodded. His mouth opened enough for the tip of his tongue to moisten his lips. The right hand tightened around Rhett's left for one breath, then two, then released the other to fall to his side. 

"Two minutes," Rhett said. "Two minutes, and then we come back inside. I know that it doesn't seem like much time right now, but it will feel like an eternity when your skin first feels how many directions wind can blow. That the scent of blood can travel over miles. That  _ everything _ makes sounds."

Another nod. This one had a tighter edge in the muscles, but Rhett saw the subtle change to the posture and steady rise and fall of Link's chest and knew that he was counting his inhales and exhales in steady measures. Rhett's long fingers rested on the glass door handle, and then hesitated. 

"Do you have any questions before we begin?"

Link turned his head to look into the bearded face. The shimmering blue lost in dilated pupils, but the question strong and resolute. 

"What if I can't make it the two minutes and need to stop early?"

Rhett frowned in a way that Link knew too well. It was an expression that he had run from his entire life: a blend of pity and tough love, and he braced for the answer. 

"This isn't a choice," Rhett replied. "Two minutes. Then we come back inside. If I decide that you can handle another two minutes, or longer, we do it again."

The door opened. The smell of morning coffee and butter wafted inside the tiny apartment. The faint cry of baby birds for their mother sounded from somewhere off in the trees.

Link took four measured steps out. His bare feet barely connected the change from carpet to wooden slats before the world invaded. It was as if he’d been living the last forty years in a bubble with no idea what his body could do— _ was  _ doing, if the pain of so much was to be believed. His eyes darted to catch every single shadow and change to the atmosphere. His skin burned from a sun that  _ hated  _ his gall to exist. The scent of sweat and tears so thick in the back of his throat that he must be physically choking on them. His mind screaming  _ get out  _ and  _ too much too much too much. _

"Breathe," Rhett reminded, from what must have been thousands of miles away. "Breathe and focus."

A sharp pain in Link's left knee jolted him back out of slow motion. He had fallen to the ground. Teeth grit so hard that Link was sure they would break. He inhaled deeply, even if his lungs protested. As if they wanted him to fail. 

"Good… you're doing really good. Just keep focusing on breathing for now."

Slowly, as if learning how to reuse his limbs after being trapped in suspended animation, the earth drifted back into a more muffled silence. Link opened his eyes, to see Rhett bent down next to him. The large thumbs caressed his cheeks as Rhett blurred in and out of Link's vision. On the edge of what was left of Link's control: the magnetic pull to bury his face in the crook of Rhett's neck. Yet he didn’t give in. 

"You did great," Rhett said, and another rare smile. "Come on. Let's get inside."


	19. Swallowing the Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you to Mike for your beta work, and to you as readers for believing in this story and keeping it going with all of your support and comments. Love this fandom and each and every one of you. <3

Books weren't complicated. 

That's why Rhett enjoyed their company instead of the flurry of humans who entered and exited the store. Human brains were always too loud and self-righteous. Their fragile and clumsy fingers too quick to grip and poke at the delicate volumes of knowledge that Rhett placed so carefully on the shelves. The questions asked so stupid and repetitive that Rhett longed for a bottle of brandy mixed with absolutely nothing else. 

Usually Rhett was able to deal with the noise, but that was before his head and heart so weighed down with memories that he needed to use the front counter for support. The sensation of sapphire eyes surrounded by darkness invaded his amygdala and snuck in waves of affection when he least expected it. Not to mention his missing phone calls because he was splashing cold water on his face and the back of his neck to distract himself from an apartment only blocks away that now always smelled of home and honeysuckle. 

If this was Crave, then it was obvious to Rhett now more than ever why some vampires went insane. Rhett swore the bookshop got quiet enough to hear Link calling out to him. His voice soft and melodic and begging him to feed until dizzy, and then fuck him raw. Kiss and bite in equal measure until they both were naked and writhing - a crime scene of decadence that only they were part of, and  _ Christ, _ those eyes. The way that they eased their presence into the tiny spaces that Rhett thought he had sealed shut with time and meditation. Jordan had chastised him for resisting what was clearly already there, and Rhett  _ hated _ Jordan for it. Not because he had been right in what he saw happening between Link and himself - Rhett could get over that. What was harder to move past was that subtle accusatory edge to everything that Jordan had said when Crave entered the conversation. An elephant in the room that could no longer be ignored. 

If Crave became part of the bite, then Rhett was doing more than causing his own body needless pain; he was in turn was hurting Link, as well. The condition was marked by give and take. Agony and euphoria shared. A manifestation, when a new vampire was born in the throes of death. This caused a stronger connection that made it possible for the Created to become a source of comfort to the Creator in times of heightened emotion. 

Crave meant that Link needed to give to Rhett as much as Rhett needed to take from Link. By refusing for as long as he had that night on the couch, Rhett had been cruel. Not providing what was needed to a young vampire who, regardless of his conflicted heart, Rhett had changed and was responsible for now. 

"Been dodgin’ my calls and texts again?"

Rhett lifted his head to find another set of familiar eyes staring into his soul. However, this glare was a sharp and steely gray, even if the wrinkles around their edges spoke volumes of every single bit of pain and triumph the older woman had endured. 

"Ignoring you isn’t  _ ever _ something wise to do, Emma.”

The elderly woman gave a small hum of approval. Her body leaned heavily on the walking stick in her right hand. The silvery hair in a series of braids at the nap of her neck today as she shifted over to pull Rhett into a warm hug. The embrace melted away some of the lingering coolness in the base of Rhett’s spine, but the soft sensation of feather-light heat was too purposeful to not be blamed on the doting of a mother hen. 

“Not like you, to urge without askin’,” Rhett remarked, but there was no actual bite in the words. Emma knew exactly how to use her powers, and to what degree.

“Do your stretching exercises for your back like I told you and I’ll stop fussin’ over you like all my other boys,” she muttered back. 

“You better not."

Emma gave a quick roll of her eyes as she shuffled towards the front of the shop. Rhett followed her lead and they sat down in the little lounge area. The room was bathed in the bright sunlight that was let in for reading old books and drinking cups of iced coffee. 

"We need to talk you and Link," Emma began, not bothered at all by the sudden frown that materialized on Rhett's lips. "And don't even start with me about you havin' everything under control, Rhett. We  _ both  _ know that ain't true."

This was why Rhett admired Emma. Her words cut through pleasantries and bullshit in equal measure. She knew what needed to be said, and never disappointed him. 

“I’m working through it,” Rhett replied. “This isn’t like dealing with closing off my mind. That was a fucking cake walk compared to - “

Rhett paused as a wrinkled hand touched the top of his own and squeezed. The grey eyes glistened to almost a silver sheen in the dying afternoon light. 

“Nobody told you that actin’ like Jessie never existed was the way to make life go on, Rhett. Surgery was decided on to stop you from seizin’ up every time you thought about her. To  _ control _ the grief. Not to destroy it completely. And don’t tell me that it ends up the same, because you’re smarter than that.”

The bookshop was way too quiet for Rhett to be able to excuse himself to take care of a roaming customer. Perhaps this was another skill of Emma. To be able to appear at just the right times so that Rhett had no choice but to sit and listen. 

“I don’t have to be an Emoter to know that Link needs you, Rhett. And Crave or not, you need him, too. Jessie seemed like a wonderful woman from what I have been told, but I’m sure that this self-inflicted exile isn’t what she would have wanted for you. ”

Still more silence. It permeated the entire building and reeked of words and feelings that had lost their way in the last four decades. A rot that followed Rhett wherever he went. It billowed in a gust of despair that Rhett wore like a cape, and he had been okay with this. He hadn’t missed sex or companionship as long as Jessie still haunted the halls of his neat and ordered mind. The scent of her dark hair and taste of her skin was still there if Rhett paused the universe and allowed his nostrils and tongue to revel in recollection. 

“How did he find her,” Rhett whispered. He knew that his voice sounded way too shaky, but he no longer cared. “How did he see where I had Jessie hidden? The neurosurgery should’ve made that impossible for him to even see the door, let alone be able to open it and look inside.”

The old woman nodded her head as her thumb slid across the large knuckles on Rhett’s right hand. The fingertips soft and gentle as she seemed to weigh out the consequences of her response.   

“Dr. Linsley was one of the best vampiric neurosurgeons in the country,” Emma began. “But nothin’ is ever impossible, baby. Maybe Link has a special ability to your mind because of… well, we still need to make it  _ official _ about you and him having Crave, but the symptoms fit you both to a tee.”

This wasn’t what Rhett wanted to hear at all, but he swallowed it whole. 

“We’ll soon find out for certain about that when he sees the doctor tomorrow,” Rhett sighed. “But what do I do, Emma? I don’t think that I know how to be who he needs me to be. You should see how he looks at me, even when he’s in pain and I’m the cause of it. What if I fail him like I failed her? I… don’t want to fail anyone ever again.”

A thumb and index finger cradled Rhett’s bearded chin and pushed up so that he was forced to look into Emma’s face. He had known her since the first day he had woken up from his surgery, but this was an expression he had never seen on her. A wistful smile as she spoke to him, as if he were a baby bird terrified to leave the warmth of its nest. 

“You didn’t fail Jessie. She died knowing that you tried to save her, and that you loved her.  _ Still _ do, even though you don’t say it. Give Link just an  _ ounce _ of that dedication, and ya’ll’ll be just fine.”

Rhett didn't cry. It wasn't as if he didn't have the correct parts to do so. His eyes just refused to waste more tears for things he couldn't change. Instead, his skin would momentarily harden. Create a temporary chrysalis to shield the place where a heart must belong. Occasionally he'd still hear it beat. Usually when Emma hugged him way too tight, or when Cole texted him on a random weekday. 

"How do I start making this better?" Rhett asked, resolve hot in his veins. "Start giving him that ounce?"

Emma sighed, and she slowly rose to her feet. The knobbled hand patted Rhett's broad shoulders as she shuffled towards the front door of the shop. Rhett watched her go, slightly surprised that she didn't give him a path or two to head down. That wasn't like Emma at all. 

"It's been a long while since my last time bein' courted," she finally said, reaching the door "But I don't think times have changed that much over the last fifty years, sweetie. It's called a first date."

Then Rhett was alone in the book shop once more. 


	20. Taking a Breath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sound like a broken record but as always, thank you for your comments and kudos. Also to Mike for being such a wonderful beta bestie! <3

Rhett never went into situations without knowing all of the outcomes. It was how he had been able to adjust to being changed before he actually was tied down to the hospital bed just over forty years ago. His breaths slowed down by IVs by his arms as medical personnel floated in and out of focus. Rhett had been ready to become a vampire. Studied and planned its  inevitability . Knew all of the warnings and trappings. However, preparation and practice are rarely friends in the best of times. 

The first rush of desire for blood and destruction had been so powerful that he had ripped his first set of bindings. Nineteen days, he had been nothing more than a ticking time bomb. A lurking creature trapped in a 10 x 10 cell which others called an  _ observation room _ behind their cupped hands. What they “observed” was a monster; a beast struggle in a battle of fight and flight. Fangs and loins in a constant state of wanting to pierce and thrust. To rip out of the flesh to swallow whole anything that was too small or trusting to get away. 

Cole could occasionally break through the hunger. His deep voice soothing over the intercom system as Rhett tried to take back control of his mind. On day twenty was when repeated screams within his brain suddenly silenced as he sensed his urge taking hold, and finally, he could think once more. 

After that day it got better, and Rhett was what he was meant to be. All sharp angles and delicate calculations. Making a name for himself for the second time, but in this life his teeth were as razored as all his other parts. Then he had met Jessie, and his whole world altered itself once more. Humans weren’t meant to be so perfect, and yet there she stood, a light in the penetrating darkness. Her kisses and voice soft and feather-light and full of a warmth that Rhett had never known he’d want again.  

Rhett was supposed to protect Jessie. Had promised it in the lines of sweaty bed sheets and dusty country trails. Her cries for him behind shattered glass, air permeated by the fumes of fuel. On winter nights, when it was too cold for anything decent to be moving in the streets below, Rhett could still hear her. Calling out a name that would reach her thirty-nine seconds too late. 

Now it was Link who was in freefall, and Rhett needed to stop his momentum. To course-correct all the damage Rhett had done. The smaller vampire was huddled up next to him in the waiting room, the lights too bright for his widened eyes. His skin felt the breach of heat of the artificial rays. Rhett had warned him about this—that the earth would now be an imposing presence, meant to crowd his body and brain in equal measure. But in time, he’d be able to tolerate it. 

Link wasn’t sure if he actually believed that. Stevie was more open-minded, but that was just the way that she was: a beam of positivity for Link to follow like breadcrumbs for as long as he could remember. 

Rhett’s beard tickled the shell of his ear as he leaned over to whisper the needed question. “You ok?”

“Just nervous about what they’re gonna do,” Link replied, his thickened accent displaying his nerves. His blue eyes darted from the receptionist at the welcome desk to the slender man in a dark brown suit typing furiously on his smartphone, so focused on the illuminated screen that his tongue jutted out of the corner of his mouth and revealed just the hint of his fangs. The warmth of Rhett’s hand over Link’s took him by surprise.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Rhett muttered so that only Link could hear. “Your paperwork is solid, and no matter what the doctors say, we’re in this together.”

Link tried to stop the smile from pushing through his twitchy energy, but the lopsided grin still emerged. Rhett inched over a little more so that they were impossibly close. 

"The Rosa Maria Cafe. They've got a wonderful blended wine selection, and the music is gorgeous. Great place to celebrate after all the medical exams.”

The smile on Link's lips grew, as did the splatter of blush on the edges of his ears and cheeks. 

"So, a date?"

Rhett quirked a left eyebrow. "That was the idea, yeah. If you were okay with—"

"Yes," Link said back quickly. "Yes. I'd like that."


End file.
